Editor's note: Brian initially wrote this column on 7/31. 8/4 UPDATE: Nimrod Tishman has been accepted to the University of Florida and will play for the Gators in 2009-2010, assuming the NCAA clears him to play (which can be shaky with overseas players).

With Nick Calathes going pro two years early and Jai Lucas opting to transfer to Texas last October, Florida has been desperately searching to add a point guard to the 2009-2010 roster. With Lucas and Calathes in the fold, Billy Donovan wasn't actively recruiting any point guards in the 2009 class.

Therefore, he was firmly behind the eight-ball in late attempts to get invovled with Rico Pickett (Manhattan), John Wall (Kentucky) and Lamont "Mo Mo" Jones (Arizona), each of whom decided to attend school elsewhere. At this point, the only point guard on the roster is five-foot, eight-inch Erving Walker, who was more of a shooting guard during his outstanding freshman campaign.

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Kenny Boynton, an incoming freshman who was a McDonald's All-American, might be able to handle some point duties but is naturally more of a two-guard.

But as we all know, Billy D is a tenacious recruiter and his efforts to add a PG are still ongoing, albeit overseas. According to Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun, UF assistant Larry Shyatt spent last week in France scouting 6-foot-6 Israeli guard Nimrod Tishman, who averaged 18.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists at the Under-18 European Championships.

Tishman, who won't turn 18 until early December, has drawn comparisons to Calathes, a tall playmaking guard who can pass and score. However, his interest in Florida is unclear at this point and a number of hurdles would have to be cleared for him to become eligible.

In other college basketball news, it's becoming increasingly clear that Mississippi St. will be lucky if Renardo Sidney gets eligible. CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish chronicled the latest on this situation this week.

Also, I recently noticed that Towson's Pat Kennedy hired former Kentucky player Allen Edwards as an assistant. Of course, Edwards is the younger brother of Doug (FSU, first-round pick/bust Atlanta Hawks) and Steve (Miami). I played against Steve and Allen, both of whom attended Miami Senior and played under Shakey Rodriguez, in an AAU tournament in Daytona Beach in the summer of 1990. (My team, which lost, had players like Tony Davis (Florida), Gentry Sparks (FSU), Avery Curry (FSU) and Dimitric Salters (FAMU).)

And finally, one last college hoops thought for the day: I'm really starting to think that Purdue is going to be real nasty in 2009-2010. We'll see...

Brian Edwards can be reached at briane@vegasinsider.com.