October 2011 | Page 12 of 21 | 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.

Former UConn AD Jeff Hathaway has been named Consultant to Big East Commissioner John Marinatto for Men’s Basketball.

Hathaway will advise the conference on men’s basketball matters.

Hathaway announced his retirement from Connecticut in August.  He had served as athletic director since 2003.  Hathaway was the athletic director at Colorado State University from 2001-03.  From 1990-2001, he was the executive associate athletic director at UConn.

NEW YORK — St. John’s only had eight players suited up for Midnight Madness Friday night, but four committed recruits sat in the front row of Taffner Field House.

Amir Garrett, Norvel Pelle, Darrick Wood and Ricardo Gathers probably wished they could have suited up and joined the festivities.

“We all had a conversation,” Wood, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from New Jersey, texted after the event. “Everyone seemed excited about playing together.”

While Wood and Gathers, a 6-8 power forward from Louisiana, are both committed for 2012, Garrett and Pelle could join the team as early as December.

It’s not hard to understand why Chris Obekpa is drawing so much high Division 1 interest and why defending national champion UConn will host him for an unofficial visit Thursday.

The 6-foot-9 Obekpa is a natural rebounder and shot-blocker who had a huge weekend for Our Savior New American at the IS8 playoffs in Queens.

In an 82-72 quarterfinal win over Sports University Sunday, Obekpa posted 11 points, 18 rebounds and nine blocks.

That followed a triple-double Saturday against Primetime Prep in which he tallied 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks.

The two most important things in Sharette Dixon’s life were her family and education.

The father of her three children, Kimani Young and the New York basketball community are once again banding together to make sure that her children get the support and education that they need.

On Saturday, the best boys and girls high school basketball players from New York City will take on their counterparts from New Jersey in a star-studded doubleheader at Bishop Loughlin High School. The girls game is at 5 p.m. and the boys game is at 7.

Shabazz Muhammad enjoyed his weekend official to Kentucky for Big Blue Madness, but is still eyeing a springtime signing.

“We were really intrigued by the practices,” Ron Holmes, Muhammad’s father, told BluegrassHoops.com. “There was no wasted time and they really got up and down the floor. The dribble-drive concepts were broken down, and they were really intriguing.”

“Shabazz will be a springtime decision. We still have to see Duke, Arizona, and Kansas, and see more of UCLA, USC, and UNLV.

The 6-foot-5 Muhammad is the consensus No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2012. He has already visited Texas A&M and has UCLA, UNLV, Texas, Arizona, Kansas and Duke on his list.

NEW YORK Jamal White didn’t have a single Division 1 scholarship offer coming out of Roosevelt High School on Long Island.

So when St. John’s coach Steve Lavin told the 6-foot-4 White he was giving him a scholarship for the upcoming season, White immediately called his girlfriend and then his mother, Deborah.

“They hung up the phone on me and when I got home, they just jumped on me,” White, 21, told SNY.tv during an interview Friday after Midnight Madness. “They didn’t believe it. We all [were] pretty ecstatic.”

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