BOSTON— There was only one North Carolina recruit playing in Wednesday’s McDonald’s East-West All-American basketball game — 7-foot-6 Neil Fingleton.

Most Tar Heel fans think there should have been at least two others — New York point guard Omar Cook, who will play at St. John’s, and Philadelphia’s Eddie Griffin, who is going to Seton Hall.

Both had North Carolina on their final list.

Cook said he’s not at North Carolina because of North Carolina.

“They signed somebody else before I made a choice,” he shrugged.

That somebody else was Brian Morrison out of Washington state. When he inked, the Tar Heels apparently backed off, according to Cook.

“I knew what I wanted to do,” saidCook, who chose the Red Storm over Miami. “They just weren’t patient enough.”

Griffin chose former Duke coach Tommy Amaker and Seton Hall, despite admitting to being a Tar Heel fan.

“It was hard because there’s so many good schools,” said the 6-9 Griffin, who averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds for Roman Catholic High School. “People were like, ‘Why didn’t you go to Carolina.’ But I thought Seton Hall was the best situation. You gotta look at the overall picture.

“I still like Carolina because I liked them growing up.”

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DROPOUT: Griffin, listed as one of the marquee players — who isn’t in this game? — has dropped out of the Hoop Summit against a European all-star team on Sunday in Indianapolis. This will be his only shot at playing with his buddy, Scooter Sherrill of West Rowan fame.

“That would just be too much,” he said. “I wouldn’t be home for a month.”

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ESPN: Announcers for the game on ESPN had different reactions when asked how they would enjoy calling the action.

Play-by-play man Dave Barnett said, “It will be different because you can’t sit here and talk strategy. There is no strategy. There’s a lot of four-on-none fast breaks.”

Barnett feels a little sorry for the big men in the game.

“The only way to get a shot if you’re not bringing the ball up is offer yourself up for an alley-oop.”

ESPN’s tall analyst, 6-10 Tim McCormick, actually played in this game two decades ago.

“It was a different era then,” he said. “It was the first chance for me to measure myself. Now, these guys have played 15-20 times together.”

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CATCHINGCAMERON: Barnett has called games at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium and said the only place close is Michigan State.

“Mainly because they’ve got the students organized down front,” he said. “Tom Izzo does a great job of giving them limits. Keep it clean. It can never be personal on an opposing player or opposing coach. That’s different from Cameron.

“It’s probably neck and neck right now as far as volume and student involvement. It’s like a newer, bigger Cameron.”

Barnett will never have James Worthy disease and root for his college on TV.

“To my knowledge, my alma mater has never played on ESPN,” he laughed. “I went to North Texas.”

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PUTMEIN, COACH: So how does a coach determine how much time each player gets when each player wants to play the entire game?

East coach Bill Loughnane said equality.

“Everybody has to play a minimum of 12 minutes,” he said. “I’ll try to keep it as even as I can.”

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RED-FACED: Red Auerbach, the stogie-chewing president of the Celtics, DeMatha coach Morgan Wooten and 91-year old John Wooden were honored at halftime.

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GOPRO, YOUNGMAN: Gerald Wallace, a dunking machine out of Alabama, is speculating about making himself eligible for the NBADraft.

That’s OKwith at least one Orlando Magic scout, who said he’s sure that 22 of the 29 teams would make him a lottery pick.

Darius Rice, the 6-10 nephew of Jerry Rice, said he was close to making an announcement on the NBA as well.

“For the vast majority who leave early, it’s a mistake,” said Wooden.“My main emphasis when I talk to these kids is to realize that basketball should be second, not first. The average length of a professional career is 41

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WANTADS: One McDonald’s player, Jerome Harper of Columbia, S.C., is looking for a college choice again.

On the day he learned he had been named to play in the game, he was spending a night in jail on assault charges related to a fight with his aunt’s former boyfriend.

Cincinnati rescinded his scholarship. None of the other schools on his final list (Duke, Clemson, Maryland and Florida) have called.

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NEW RECORD: The 18,624 fans who packed the FleetCenter was a new mark for the game.