October 2011 | Page 14 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.
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Articles, St. Joe's, Temple, Villanova

BROOKLYN — The dominant theme at A-10 Media Day wasn’t Chris Mack’s Xavier team being installed as the preseason No. 1, or Xavier’s Tu Holloway and St. Bonaventure’s Andrew Nicholson leading the Preseason First Team.

No, the dominant topic was Temple’s potential move to the Big East and the ensuing dominoes that would fall.

A-10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade essentially said Temple had to do what it had to do on the football side, but that she hoped the school would remain in her league for other sports.

St. Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli said he couldn’t imagine the City of Brotherly Love, famously unsupportive of college football, supporting two Big East gridiron teams.

Hofstra

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Mo Cassara joked that when he took over the Hofstra basketball team last year, the three most common questions he faced went as follows.

“Who are you?”

“Are you really the coach?”

“And can I talk to Charles Jenkins?”

During his first year taking over an unsettled Hofstra program, Cassara could always rely on Jenkins to pump in 20 or more points per game. As a result, the Pride went 21-12, 14-4 in the CAA.

Articles

Former Boston College coach Al Skinner has found a new coaching gig.

No, Skinner isn’t taking over a Division 1 basketball program.

Instead, he will be coaching with the high-octane Boston Area Basketball Club.

“Al is an assistant with us,” BABC head Leo Papile, who has run the program for 35 years, said by text, confirming a report on HoopDirt.com. “He will be on the bench with Eggie McRae with our sophomores (2014) this season, which is in the fall segment through Nov. 6. This group was the 2011 AAU ninth grade national champs.”

Articles, Boys & Girls High, Brewster Academy, NIA Prep, Prep Schools, Rutgers, South Kent

Mike Taylor had it all going for him.

The 6-foot-4 shooting guard led Brooklyn Boys & Girls to its first New York PSAL championship ever in the spring of 2010, and then signed a National Letter of Intent to Rutgers that September, joining a blockbuster recruiting class for head coach Mike Rice.

Then the bottom began to fall out.

“I just stopped working,” he told SNY.tv by phone Tuesday. “I thought I didn’t have to to do school work and stuff like that.”

Articles, Recruiting

Amile Jefferson, the 6-foot-7, 185-pound forward out of Philadelphia Friends Central, still has nearly a dozen schools on his list and may wait until the spring signing period before making a commitment.

“Yeah, if he doesn’t feel comfortable in making a decision, then he’ll wait,” Friends Central coach Jason Polykoff told SNY.tv Wednesday.

Polykoff said Jefferson’s list currently includes Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Temple, Villanova, Stanford, UConn, Kentucky, Ohio State, N.C. State and Maryland.

He’s taken unofficials to N.C. State, Villanova, Temple and Maryland, and was on an official to Ohio State last weekend.

Americans in Europe, Rutgers

Former Rutgers forward Jonathan Mitchell has started strong in his professional career, leading CB Tarragona of Spain in scoring and rebounding through three games.

“It is a great experience playing over here, in a different country and being a professional basketball player,” said Mitchell, according to ScarletKnights.com. “Coach Rice prepared me for this, and although I couldn’t see it while I was there, I am grateful for everything he did for me last season. I wish I could have learned more from him.”

“In one season, Jonathan Mitchell’s mental and physical toughness developed incredibly,” said head coach Mike Rice. “J-Mitch learned he was too perimeter-oriented during his junior season, and he worked at not being a one-dimensional player. Not only was he more versatile for us last year, but he was a leader on this team and I think that will help him succeed on the next level.” 

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