September 2013 | Page 16 of 27 | 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.

On the same night that point guard Quentin Snider committed to Illinois, coach John Groce’s club got still more good news when 2014 power forward Cliff Alexander Tweeted that he will take an official to campus.

“Taking a official visit to U of I oct 26 #TurnUp,” he Tweeted.

The 6-foot-9 Chicago Curie recently took his first official visit to DePaul. Next up is Arizona this weekend.

Alexander will take an official to Kansas Oct. 4 for “Late Night in the Phog,” and will also visit Memphis (Oct. 18). He has also mentioned visiting Louisville.

Kentucky, Michigan State, Baylor and Indiana are also on his list.

Quentin Snider announced Thursday night that he will attend Illinois, choosing the Illini over UCLA.

“I chose Illinois because it was the perfect fit for me,” Snider told SNY.tv. “I love the style of play, get up and down the court and run pick-and-rolls. And the thing about Coach [John] Groce, he’s a good guy to be around. Great family guy and they will use me as a point guard.”

The 6-foot-2, 170-pound former Louisville commit has ties to Illinois, having known guard Aaron Cosby, a fellow Louisville native, since their younger days.

“Basically he’s the one who turned me on to Groce,” Snider said.

Myles Turner received an offer from Kentucky coach John Calipari during their home visit Wednesday, Turner’s father, David, confirmed to SNY.tv.

“The family and everybody was very impressed with Coach Calipari,” Trinity (TX) Euless coach Mark Villines told Ben Roberts of the Herald-Leader. “I mean, it’s Kentucky basketball, but he really pitched it to Myles. He didn’t sugarcoat anything — was very honest. When he walked away, the initial vibe was they were very impressed.”

Calipari would like the 6-foot-11 Turner to visit for Big Blue Madness, but Turner is tentatively set to visit Ohio State that same weekend.

“They really want him to come up for midnight madness,” Villines told the paper. “But everybody wants him to come that weekend. So I’m not sure where he’s going to choose, but he did throw that out there. And I know Myles is considering it.”

BLAIRSTOWN, N.J. — One by one, the high-major head coaches are filing into Blair Academy to watch Marial Shayok work out.

Yet Blair head coach Joe Mantegna believes two schools currently lead for the 6-foot-6 Canadian wing.

“Marquette and Virginia are in there hard and they were in there early,” Mantegna told SNY.tv Wednesday afternoon in the Blair gym.

“But Minnesota was in [Wednesday] and USC is in [Thursday] and Seton Hall’s in on Friday. And Boston College is in next week. And Coach [Ed] Cooley from Providence was in, so there may be other people certainly trying to close ground.”

Jeff Newberry of New Mexico Junior College is one of the top junior college guards in the nation. An Atlanta native, he will be contributing periodically to ZAGSBLOG this year. Here’s his second entry.

Hey guys, Jeff Newberry of New Mexico Junior College.

Just going to give you guys a brief rundown on my recruiting for now due to a lot of people wanting to know where I’m at in the process. I now have a final five of UConn, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and LSU, in no particular order. That’s my final five. Nobody else is getting in the mix.

It is now the period where Division 1 coaches can come in and legally see me workout and play pick up.

I’ve been in contact with a number of coaches such as Tubby Smith (Texas Tech) , Kevin Ollie (UConn) , Travis Ford (Oklahoma State) and Glynn Cyprien (Texas A&M).

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