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Cliff Alexander: ‘doesn’t matter to me’ where Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones go to college

Tyus Jones (Apple Valley High/Apple Valley, Minn.) and Jahlil Okafor (Whitney Young/Chicago, Ill.) -- two of the top players in the Class of 2014 -- have made it clear that they want to play in college with each other. There have also been rumors that Okafor’s AAU teammate with Mac Irvin Fire Cliff Alexander (Curie High/Chicago, Ill.) would join them in a massive package deal.

In mid-May, Alexander told NBC Sports that the trio of top-5 players had discussed the possibility of committing to the same school.

“Yeah, me, Jahlil and Tyus have talked about it,” Alexander said. “There aren’t any schools in particular we’re all looking at together.”

On Sunday, the 6-foot-8 Alexander told Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal that the possibility of a package deal might not become a reality when it’s all said and done.

“It really doesn’t matter to me,” Alexander said when asked about going to school with Okafor and Jones.

He later called the chances of him and his current AAU teammate playing together at the next level, “very slim.”

Alexander has offers from Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Louisville, Ohio State, UConn, Illinois and Indiana among others. Jones had previously cut his list of finalists to seven on Mar. 9. Okafor did the same this past Wednesday, trimming his college choices to eight.

Alexander -- the No. 5 overall player in the Class of 2014 according to Rivals -- did tell Couch that he “loves” Tom Izzo. Michigan State became the second team to offer Alexander. The Spartans made the cut for both Jones and Okafor.

“Everybody has been recruiting me the same,” Alexander told NBC Sports in May. “I’m just looking for a school that has a great relationship with my parents, a school that gets out and runs and me and the coaches have to see eye-to-eye.”

Through four sessions with Mac Irvin Fire in the EYBL, Alexander is averaging 16.0 points and 11.4 rebounds per game.

Terrence is also the lead writer at NEHoopNews.com and can be followed on Twitter: @terrence_payne