March 2012 | Page 16 of 28 | 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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Articles, Kentucky, UConn

LOUISVILLE,  Ky. — UConn coach Jim Calhoun doesn’t claim to have any inside knowledge, but he could see longtime rival John Calipari returning to the NBA at some point.

As a matter of coincidence, the Knicks on Wednesday parted ways with Mike D’Antoni after three-plus years, opening the door to rumor and speculation that Calipari might be a candidate to take over in the Big Apple.

“Can I imagine John going in the NBA or anything else? Yes,” said Calhoun, whose team begins defense of its NCAA championship here Thursday against Iowa State and could meet Kentucky Saturday in a rematch of last year’s national semifinals.

“I think John very simply marches…to his own drummer.”

Villanova

Villanova junior guard Maalik Wayns will enter his name into the pool of candidates for the 2012 NBA draft.

Wayns has not retained the services of an agent, keeping open the option of returning for his final season of eligibility in 2012-13. The deadline for early entrant candidates to remove their names from draft consideration is April 10.

“I want to test the waters at this point to see where I stand,” said Wayns, who paced the Wildcats in scoring in 2011-12 with a 17.6 ppg average.

Articles, Seton Hall

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — The college basketball careers of Seton Hall seniors Jordan Theodore and Herb Pope will end at some point this month.

They could have come to a crashing halt Tuesday night had a 3-point attempt by Stony Brook’s Bryan Dougher been good with Seton Hall leading by two points and two seconds remaining in the game.

But Dougher’s 3-pointer was off the mark and a putback attempt at the buzzer was also no good, giving Seton Hall a 63-61 victory in this first-round NIT game in cozy Walsh Gym.

Articles, Kentucky, Western Kentucky

The last time Derrick Gordon and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist shared a basketball court they played in the mythical high school national championship game last March at Rutgers.

The former Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick teammates were upset by St. Anthony in that game and their dream of a perfect season and mythical national title came crashing down.

Now, one year later, Gordon and Gilchrist will meet up in the second round of the NCAA Tournament when No. 16 Western Kentucky meets No. 1 Kentucky at 6:50 Thursday evening in Louisville.

Syracuse

Syracuse’s chances of winning its second NCAA Tournament since 2003 took a major hit Tuesday when the school announced that  7-foot sophomore center Fab Melo is ineligible for the remainder of the season.

The 7-foot Melo may well have played his last game for the Orange, with the New York Times reporting multiple sources at Syracuse and in the NBA saying Melo will declare for the NBA Draft.

“He has to be coming out for sure with the latest news,” one veteran NBA scout told SNY.tv. “He’s no doubt a first-rounder due to his size and the lack of big men in the draft and currently in the NBA.”

Kyle Anderson, UCLA

Ron Holmes, the father of 2012 recruit Shabazz Muhammad, issued a statement of support for UCLA coach Ben Howland following the news that Howland will return next season.

“We are happy for Coach Howland,” Holmes told SNY.tv. “I feel if given the opportunity he will get UCLA back on track.”

Asked if UCLA was still on his son’s list, Holmes said, “Yes, they are.”

The 6-foot-6 Muhammad out of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman is also considering Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, Arizona and UNLV and is expected to announce in April.

Recruiting

SMU’s basketball recruits are now in a state of limbo following the firing of head coach Matt Doherty.

SMU, which will join the Big East for all sports in 2013, has two local signees in 6-foot-3 Xaverian shooting guard Brian Bernardi and 7-foot center Blaise Mbargorba of the Peddie School. Uche Ofoegbu, a 6-5 small forward from San Antonio, is also part of the 2012 recruiting class.

“Right now I’m still going to SMU and am going to talk to my family and coaches about the situation,” Bernardi told SNY.tv by text.

Mbargorba and Peddie coach Joe Rulewich were not immediately available for comment.

CBSSports.com first reported the news of Doherty’s firing after six seasons.

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