Maine’s top high school basketball players in the Class of 2006 are continuing to firm up their collegiate plans.

Among those who have made their decisions in recent weeks are Chris Wilson of Brewer, Brock Bradford of Bangor Christian and Greg Whitaker of Presque Isle.

Wilson, a 6-foot-1 guard who is a two-time Bangor Daily News All-Maine selection, will continue his academic and athletic pursuits at Bates College in Lewiston next fall.

“Number one is the academics, it’s always been academics first,” said Wilson, who led coach Mark Reed’s Brewer team to the Eastern Maine Class A preliminary round this year after helping the Witches reach the regional semifinals as a junior. “I wanted to go to a school that would challenge me, and Bates has two programs I’m interested in in art and environmental studies.”

Wilson also will step into a Bates basketball program that has had considerable success in recent years under ninth-year coach Joe Reilly. The Bobcats finished 20-6 last season, reaching the semifinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference postseason tournament before being defeated by Amherst.

Amherst went on to reach the NCAA Div. III national semifinals.

“Bates had an excellent year last year, and everyone there is excited about the program,” Wilson said.

Wilson, the 2006 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference co-player of the year and a second-team NEWS All-Maine selection, averaged 20.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game last winter.

He will step into a Bates backcourt already inhabited by two names familiar to Maine high school basketball fans, Zak Ray of Bangor and Eric Shone of Portland.

Ray, a former Mr. Maine Basketball, was a second-team All-NESCAC choice last season after leading the conference in steals and ranking fourth in assists. He will be a senior at Bates next winter.

Shone was the starting point guard for the Portland High School team that won the 2004 Class A state championship, and will be a junior with the Bobcats.

“I’ve developed some relationships with them,” said Wilson, a 1,000-point scorer at Brewer, “and I’m really looking forward to learning under Zak.”

Bradford, like Wilson a two-time NEWS All-Maine choice, will stay remain in Bangor to attend Husson College.

Bradford was a four-year starter in high school who concluded his career with 1,689 points.

As a sophomore the point guard helped Calvary Chapel of Orrington to an undefeated season and the Class D state champion, and he averaged 31 points for the Sabers as a junior while earning third-team All-Maine honors.

He transferred to Bangor Christian for his senior season, and averaged 23.2 points per game to lead the Patriots to a berth in the regional quarterfinals and earn second-team All-Maine honors.

He also is valedictorian of his senior class.

At Husson, he will join a backcourt that includes Jason Harvey of Bucksport, Jordan Heath of Bangor and backup point guard Fabian Figueroa.

“I’ve played with those guys quite a bit already,” said Bradford, who also considered attending Nyack (N.Y.) College.

“Right now I’m just hitting the weights as much as I can to get ready, and I’ll be talking to a nutritionist,” said Bradford, who hopes to add 10 pounds to his 6-foot-1 frame before he begins formal practices in the fall.

Husson finished 17-10 last season, advancing to the semifinals of the North Atlantic Conference tournament before being eliminated by Maine-Farmington.

Whitaker, a 6-foot-5 forward who led Presque Isle to the 2006 Eastern Maine Class B final, will take his game to the University of Southern Maine next winter.

A third-team NEWS All-Maine choice who battled a stress fracture in his left shin for much of his senior season, Whitaker selected USM after also considering Husson.

“I wanted to get away from home, and Bangor is like my second home,” said Whitaker, the 2006 Big East Conference Class B Player of the Year. “I didn’t want to be too close to home, but I wanted to stay in Maine, and this was a good fit.”

Whitaker averaged 16.3 points and 7.8 rebounds a game last winter to rank second in the conference in both categories. He also shot 59.9 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.

Whitaker, a top tennis player at Presque Isle for much of his high school career, opted not to go play that sport this spring in order to focus on weight training and basketball-related workouts.

Whitaker envisions playing shooting guard or small forward for coach Karl Henrikson at Southern Maine, which finished 10-16 last winter.

Another third-team NEWS All-Maine choice, guard Andrew York of Central Aroostook in Mars Hill, still is considering several college options, according to his father, Brent York. Of more immediate concern is younger York’s recovery after having his appendix removed last week, a procedure that forced him to miss baseball games against Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook and Van Buren.

York hopes to return to the Panthers’ baseball team this week, his father said.