March 2012 | Page 23 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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Saturday / November 23.

NEW YORK — From where Rick Pitino sat courtside at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night, Seton Hall is now safely in the NCAA Tournament and should take it easy on Louisville in Wednesday’s Big East second round.

“I was very excited because I think tonight’s win got them in the tournament, officially off the bubble,” Pitino told SNY.tv exclusively following No. 10 Seton Hall’s 79-47 rout of No. 15 Providence.

“And now what [Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard] should do is rest his starters and play his subs and not worry about the next game.”

NEW YORK — There are two possible roads ahead for the St. John’s basketball team.

One includes Moe Harkless, the newly minted Big East Rookie of the Year, returning for his sophomore season and potentially leading the talented Johnnies back to the NCAA Tournament in 2013.

The other involves Harkless departing early for the NBA, leaving D’Angelo Harrison and the other Johnnies to carry on without him.

“I just have to sit down and think about it and I’ll talk with my coaches and everything,” Harkless said after he put up 25 points and 9 rebounds in St. John’s final game of the season, a 73-59 loss to Pittsburgh in the Big East Tournament. “And I don’t know yet.”

NEW YORKJeremy Lamb isn’t Kemba Walker.

He’s not the same kind of player. He doesn’t have Kemba’s megawatt smile. And he doesn’t carry himself with the same swagger and confidence as the kid from The Bronx who starred at Rice High School.

“I’m not trying to be Kemba,” the unassuming Lamb said after scoring a game-high 25 points on 10-for-18 shooting as No. 9 UConn beat No. 16 DePaul, 81-67, in the first round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

“Of course, everybody wants to lead their team to championships. I’m just trying to do what’s best for this team.”

NEW YORK — At least one Big East coach failed to put West Virginia’s Kevin Jones on the All-Big East First Team, and UConn’s Jim Calhoun thinks that’s a travesty.

“Anybody who would do that didn’t play in the league this year,” Calhoun told SNY.tv exclusively following No. 9 UConn’s 81-67 victory over No. 16 DePaul in the Big East Tournament.

A year ago, at least one league coach failed to put UConn’s Kemba Walker on the Big East First-Team…and we all know how that worked out.

Amile Jefferson is expected to make a decision “very soon” following his weekend official visit to Duke, his head coach told SNY.tv.

“He enjoyed his Duke trip,” Jason Polykoff of Philly Friends Central said by text. “He doesn’t have an official timetable but he’s ready to make a decision very soon.”

The 6-foot-8 Jefferson is also considering Kentucky, N.C. State, Ohio State and Villanova.

NEW YORK — When asked to field a question about Roger Federer Monday morning during a press conference, Andy Roddick retorted, “You’re talking about the Dos Equis guy here?”

Roddick was joking about the fact that Federer, the all-time leader with 16 Grand Slam singles titles, had been introduced as the second-most respected man in the world….behind Nelson Mandela.

Federer laughed and conceded he didn’t get “The Most Interesting Man in the World” reference.

Roddick then went out and proceeded to beat his old rival, Federer, 7-5, 7-6 (7) during Tennis Night in America at Madison Square Garden. Maria Sharapova prevailed over Caroline Wozniacki, 6-3, 6-4, in the first match.

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