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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.

When Jason McCourty ran the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds in front of a slew of NFL scouts last month, he knew immediately he had helped his draft stock.

“Definitely. My brother [Devin McCourty] and Courtney Greene, they were all standing by the  scouts. They came up to me and said they all did a double take at their watches because nobody expected me to run that fast,” McCourty said by phone. “I kind of expected it because I had done a 4.28 in training.”

A 5-foot-10, 190-pound cornerback who starred at St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale, N.J., McCourty expects to be drafted somewhere in the middle rounds of the NFL Draft, which begins today at Radio City Music Hall.

“I’ve been told around the fifth [round] and I’ve also been told free agency,” McCourty said.

Maryland coach Gary Williams landed a local wing Friday when Terrence Ross committed to the Terps.

Ross, a 6-foot-5 junior shooting guard out of Portland, Ore., played for Stu Vetter at Montrose Christian (Md.). Ranked No. 10 at his position in the Class of 2010, Ross chose Maryland over UCLA and Oregon State, among others.

“Maryland did a good job recruiting him,” Vetter told The Washington Post. “They recruited him hard this spring and during the season. Throughout the year, he told me he enjoyed Montrose and he wanted to stay close to home. This was an opportunity for him to not only stay close to Montrose but also go to a great program like Maryland. It’s a great opportunity for him and it’s a very good fit for Maryland.”

John Calipari continues to bring former Memphis players to Kentucky

Kentucky on Thursday signed Miami-Dade College wing Darnell Dodson, who was recently let  out of his letter of intent at Memphis.

The 6-foot-7 Dodson, originally from Greenbelt, Md., initially signed with Pittsburgh and was taking classes there in the fall of 2007 before he ran into NCAA Clearinghouse issues.

He attended Miami-Dade College last season where he helped guide the Sharks to a Southern Conference Championship and a 26-2 regular season record. He averaged 15.7 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 76.7 percent from free throw line en route to First Team All-Southern Conference honors.

The world is waiting for Lance Stephenson to make his college decision and sources say he and his family are still  huddling about where he should go.

Here’s what we know today:

**Despite rumors to the contrary, Bill Self will not come to New York this weekend to meet with Lance. Why? The recruiting period is over.

**Self cannot say enough good things about Xavier Henry.

“It’s a huge get,” Self said. “Not only did we get one of the best prospects in the country, a player that certainly fills a need on the perimeter for us, but we also recruited his family for several years and to see everything come full circle and come back to KU, I think it’s a huge get for the University of Kansas.”

As first reported here this morning, Ferrakohn Hall, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound power forward out of Memphis (Tenn.) White Station, picked Seton Hall over UAB and Baylor on Friday.

“The visit was great,” Hall said of his visit to Seton Hall last weekend, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I liked the city [New York], I loved the city.

“All three schools would’ve been good situations but I felt like being in New York I’d get a lot of publicity and I’d get a good chance to make it to the next level.”

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