September 2008 | Page 9 of 19 | Zagsblog
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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
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Saturday / November 23.
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Kansas, Lance Stephenson, Memphis, St. John's

Lance Stephenson had an in-home visit last Thursday with St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts and assistant Fred Quartlebaum.

“Yes,” said Lincoln coach Dwayne “Tiny” Morton.

According to sources, the visit with Lance and his parents went very well, St. John’s feels good about it and the Red Storm believe they have a realistic shot at landing the 6-foot-5 Stephenson in the spring.

“He’s always had St. John’s on his list,” Morton said.

Syracuse

To the surprise of virtually no one, Brandon Triche, a 6-foot-4 point guard from Jamesville-Dewitt High outside of Syracuse, will play for the Orange.

Triche’s decision came after an in-home visit with Orange head coach Jim Boeheim Sunday night. He decided not to visit UConn and Georgetown as a result.

“I had a great visit with Coach Boeheim and Coach Fine,” Triche told the Syracuse Post-Standard. “The reasons why they said I should go to Syracuse were exactly the reasons why I already wanted to go there. I’m real comfortable with my decision.”

Iona, Seton Hall

To look at the Iona men’s basketball roster is to see a Who’s Who of the top high school programs in the New York-New Jersey area. Under second-year coach Kevin Willard, the roster is dotted with players from New Jersey powerhouses St. Benedict’s Prep, St. Patrick, Don Bosco and Bloomfield Tech, as well as New York schools Rice, Molloy and Cardozo.

“I’m really excited about the team, more or less because I really feel we have a great group of kids to work with,” Willard said. “Every day they come in with a great attitude, really positive, really upbeat to work and get better. And as a coach, it’s been a lot of fun so far.”

The Gaels recently went undefeated through three games during a Canadian exhibition. Jonathan Huffman, a junior transfer from Louisville, scored 20 points in two of the games, and showed an ability to hit the 3-pointer.

Seton Hall

The Seton Hall staff is optimistic that incoming 6-foot-11, 350-pound freshman Melvyn Oliver will be cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse to play this season, but Oliver has yet to get an official notification of his status.

“They’re still waiting for his stuff to clear,” said Victor Evans, Oliver’s coach at Mississippi Elite Christian Academy. “They have everything they need. They’re just waiting on the NCAA right now. You know with that NCAA, you never know.

“We had a football player from here who cleared and I think Melvyn’s stuff went (to the NCAA) first. He cleared before football practice started.”

Kansas, Lance Stephenson, Providence, Rutgers, St. John's, Transfers, UMass, Villanova

Tevin Baskin has a couple of visits set and is working on a few more

“I have two visits that I’m definitely taking, to UMass on Oct. 11 and to Providence on Oct. 17,” said Baskin a 6-foot-7 senior forward from Trinity (Conn.) Catholic.

Baskin said he also plans to reschedule visits to Xavier and Auburn.

He said he hasn’t heard from any other Big East schools besides Providence.

“I haven’t heard from Rutgers and St. John’s, or any of the Big East schools really,” he said. “I have no favorite. Schools are still coming in.”

NBA, New York Giants, Old Knicks

I spent the day at the Sports Museum of America in lower Manhattan working on a few stories. Giants DE Justin Tuck was there for an event promoting literacy and my SNY story on him touches on everything from DeSean Jackson’s blown TD last night to Leon Lett to Charlie Weis’ unfortunate weekend sideline accident.

After Tuck’s event, it was time for the allocation ceremony for the new women’s pro soccer league, Women’s Professional Soccer, of which two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash is a part owner.

Dominic Cheek, High Schools, Indiana, Kansas, Marquette, Memphis, Oklahoma State, Rutgers, Seton Hall, UConn, Villanova

The parade of college coaches continues to come through Jersey City to visit with St. Anthony senior guard Dominic Cheek.

Kansas head coach Bill Self and assistant Joe Dooley had an in-home visit on Monday night with the 6-foot-5 Cheek, his uncle, Omari Knight, and St. Anthony head coach Bob Hurley.

“It was good,” Knight said by phone. “We had a lot of conversations about Dominic going to the school. Everything sounds good. We’ve got to still try to take a visit (to Kansas) to get the overall picture of the school. It looked good and they have (former St. Anthony standout) Tyshawn (Taylor) over there.”

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