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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.

After dropping 40 points and leading the Knicks to their 10th straight win Wednesday night over the Atlanta Hawks, Carmelo Anthony said he liked both the Knicks and Syracuse to win championships this season.

No surprise, really.

But Melo — who has exploded for 90 points in the last two nights — seems pretty confident about the Knicks’ chances after they beat the Atlanta Hawks, 95-82. The Knicks haven’t lost since a March 17 defeat at the L.A. Clippers.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Anthony told ESPN about a potential NBA championship. “I done did it on all levels, high school, college, Olympic gold medal, so now I think it’s time for an NBA title.”

If all goes well for Tyler Ennis this weekend, his high school team and his future college team could both win national championships.

The 6-foot-2 Syracuse-bound Ennis will lead St. Benedict’s Prep into the ESPN National High School Invitational at Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda, Md. The No. 4 seed Gray Bees will face No. 5 La Lumiere on Thursday at 2 p.m. on ESPNU.

The semifinals are Friday and the championship game is Saturday, the same day Syracuse meets Michigan in a national semifinal in Atlanta.

“Hopefully, we beat Michigan and if we play Louisville again, we can get some revenge for the Big East Tournament,” Ennis said of Syracuse’s loss to the Cardinals in the Big East final.

The former Big East Conference will call itself the American Athletic Conference.

“We worked with our institutions, sports marketing experts, media partners, and also solicited opinions and reactions from collegiate sports fans to create a compelling list of names,” said league commissioner Mike Aresco. 

“Versions that included the word ‘American’ led every list.  American Athletic Conference represents a strong, durable and aspirational name for our reinvented Conference.

Once again, here’s how the new Big East and the American Athletic Conference will look going forward.

CATHOLIC 7/NEW BIG EAST BASKETBALL 2013-14 (10 teams)

Butler

Creighton

DePaul

Georgetown

Jim Boeheim says he won’t retire even if the Orange cut down the nets next Monday night at the Georgia Dome.

“I fully intend to coach next year going into the ACC…and win or lose this tournament will have no affect on that decision at all,” Boeheim said on ESPN’s “PTI.”

Syracuse faces Michigan Saturday in the second national semifinal in Atlanta, following the Louisville-Wichita State game.

Boeheim and Louisville coach Rick Pitino could potentially meet in an all-Big East championship game.

Melissa Hurley wants her father, Naismith Hall of Famer Bob Hurley Sr., to become the next head coach at Rutgers, and figures that may be the best way to keep two of the team’s best players happy.

Two of Hurley’s former St. Anthony players, guards Eli Carter and Myles Mack, are sophomores on the Rutgers roster and one, or both, could opt to transfer in the wake of Mike Rice’s firing.

Their classmate, fellow guard Jerome Seagears, and wing Vincent Garrett had already decided to transfer before Rice was fired Wednesday morning.

“They’re going to wait and see how this all plays out,” a source close to the former St. Anthony players said of Carter and Mack.

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