You might remember earlier this summer when John Wall, the No. 1 recruit in the country, was taking his sweet, sweet time deciding which school he would grace with his presence in 2008-09. Wall's process of elimination was a brutally long affair; Wall started with basically every school and gradually whittled them down, list by list, into his final four. He eventually chose Kentucky, but not before one of the longer, more interminable recruiting processes in recent memory.

Still, to his credit, Wall made his decision a month ago. Lance Stephenson, perhaps New York City's most decorated high school basketball player ever, has no such luck. The difference between Wall and Stephenson? It's not Stephenson eschewing interest in schools; it's the schools who keep losing interest in Stephenson.

This was bad enough on June 1, when Chris wrote about the topic, but it's now June 23, and Stephenson still doesn't have a school. Maryland rescinded its scholarship offer. St. John's, who would seem desperate for a New York-based savior, withdrew its interest. As of today, Florida International's Isiah Thomas has dropped the issue. The only coach still actively recruiting Stephenson appears to be Memphis's Josh Pastner, whose program may or may not be vacating a whole batch of wins -- if not worse -- this offseason.

Why is Stephenson still scholarship-less? The New York Daily News asks that question today, and the answers they come up with can be summed up as such:

1. Stephenson has a domineering father known for his loud antics at basketball games and clashes with Stephenson's high school coach. His father, Lance Sr., has also handled much of Stephenson's recruiting. Coaches are likely scared off by that relationship.

2. He might not be eligible. Stephenson will likely invite a whole mess of NCAA scrutiny once he signs on with a school for a variety of reasons, including an online TV show that was picked up by MTV2 (was he compensated?), a tour through the Under Armour factory with CEO and Maryland booster Kevin Plank, and the simple fact that he just might not make the grades.

3. Stephenson is currently charged with sexual assault for allegedly groping a 17-year-old; he's set to appear in court on June 29 with a teammate from Lincoln High School. If convicted, Stephenson could face 90 days in jail, which may or may not coincide with basketball season. Either way, "we recruit sexual offenders so long as they can be at practice on time!" isn't exactly the motto most coaches are going for.

4. His attitude. Chris's post had a quote from a USA Basketball coach about why Stephenson didn't make the under-18 team last year, and it was about team-related attitude. In the Daily News story, a Big East assistant says "With Lance, it's always me, me, me." Davidson's coach, Bob McKillop -- coincidentally the coach of the U-18 USA Basketball team that cut Stephenson -- is now on the record saying:

"Five percent of the game is played with the ball in your hands," McKillop told the News at the time. "The other 95% is played without the ball in your hands. Lance had to work on that."

Ouch.

One of these things, or maybe even two of them, would probably be fine. I mean, if coaches never took players with strong-willed parents, or players with some semblance of criminal behavior, or players with eligbility issues, or players that were convinced they needed to have the ball all the time, the NCAA would hardly exist. This is how it works. Elite basketball players occasionally come from bad backgrounds, or have behavioral issues, and that's never stopped coaches before.

But when you roll up all four of Stephenson's issues and put them in one volatile package -- and when you throw in the high-profile nature of his recruitment, and the fact that the NCAA seems certain to investigate Stephenson the minute he steps on a college campus -- you get a radioactive player. In fact, Stephenson might be the first player in the one-and-done era who was simultaneously this talented and this undesirable. He's enough to make college hoops coaches catch a conscience.

It's kind of a miracle, actually. Dr. Manhattan would be impressed.

Related: Big East Basketball, College Basketball Media, Age limit and related madness