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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.

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — Few teams in the country will be as loaded in the backcourt next season as the Florida Gators.

In addition to returning its two leading scorers from last season in Erving Walker (14.6 ppg) and Kenny Boynton (14.2), the Gators add Brad Beal, the reigning Gatorade National Player of the Year, and Rutgers transfer Mike Rosario.

“I think there’s going to have to be a level of sacrifice with all of our team, you know?” Florida coach Billy Donovan told SNY.tv at the Peach Jam.

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — There was perhaps no bigger winner at the Peach Jam than the city of Memphis.

The YOMCA Memphis 17U team reached the finals before losing to BABC, while the 16U team won the championship, 74-73, over the CP3 All-Stars on a last-second alley-oop layup by Nick King.

“The prep basketball in the city of Memphis is as good as any prep basketball in the country,” Memphis head coach Josh Pastner told SNY.tv.

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — The page has turned for Norm Roberts.

For six years as the head coach at St. John’s, Roberts tried his best to keep the best talent from the New York metropolitan area at home.

Now, he’s working on getting the top area players to leave the Big Apple for Gainesville, Fla.

At this week’s Peach Jam, Roberts and Florida head coach Billy Donovan tag-teamed to attend every one of Kyle Anderson’s game with the Playaz.

“With Norm Roberts at Florida, they become a contender,” Kyle Anderson Sr. said when Roberts was hired in April.

By JOSH NEWMAN

Special to ZAGSBLOG

BELMAR, N.J. — Seton Hall sophomore swingman Fuquan Edwin views his freshman season as a success. The 6-foot-6 Paterson Catholic graduate started 26 of the 31 games the Pirates played, averaged 7.9 points per game and had a few big outings during the 13-game stretch that Jeremy Hazell missed from Nov. 21 to Jan. 8.

Some will look at Edwin’s season as a whole, see the reduced production after the return of the Pirates’ leading scorer at DePaul on Jan. 12 and say he hit a wall. The argument that Edwin hit a wall in the middle of his freshman season in the Big East could be made, but he respectfully disagrees.

By JOSH NEWMAN

Special to ZAGSBLOG

BELMAR, N.J. –– Games at the Verizon Fios Jersey Shore Basketball League are often defined by little semblance of order on offense and even less defense. With the helter-skelter style of basketball present, now imagine a group of recently-graduated high school players trying to pull that off against teams full of present and past high-level college players in addition to guys playing professionally in Europe.

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