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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.

Texas has landed a pledge from 6-foot-8, 230-pound junior college power forward Obi Oleka.

He also considered Gonzaga, Southern Miss, Oregon State and Old Dominion, among others. He will have two years of Division 1 eligibility remaining.

“He’s a bonified athlete,” his college coach, Elliott Williams of State College of Florida-Manatee, told SNY.tv. “He plays the 3/4 for us, inside/out. Definitely a guy that is a warrior in the block. Definitely is a matchup for most post guys. 

Trey LylesBy JOSH NEWMAN
Special to ZAGSBLOG

Arsenal Tech (IN) 2014 forward Trey Lyles will announce between Kentucky and Louisville on Tuesday afternoon at 12:50 EST on ESPNU, Titans head coach Jason Delaney confirmed to SNY. tv on Monday morning.

Should the 6-foot-10 Canadian choose the Wildcats, he will be the Class of 2014’s fourth commitment following 7-foot-1 center Karl Towns Jr., 5-foot-9 point guard Tyler Ulis and 6-foot-5 shooting guard Devin Booker, who committed just last week on Halloween.

Lyles de-committed from Indiana in August, then announced in late September that he had cut his suitors down to two schools: Kentucky and Louisville.

Chicago Curie big man Cliff Alexander will cut his list from four to “three final schools” before his Nov. 15 announcement on ESPNU, according to Taylor Rooks of Fox Sports, who spoke with Alexander Monday.

Reports surfaced Monday that the 6-foot-9 Alexander would choose between local schools DePaul and Illinois — and had thus cut Kansas and Memphis — but Rooks quoted Alexander as saying those reports were “not true.”

“No, not at all. They don’t know what they’re talking about,” Latillia Alexander, Cliff’s mom, told SNY.tv Monday

**UPDATED 1/5/14 — The Minnesota Timberwolves today assigned Shabazz Muhammad to the Iowa Energy, the team’s NBA Development League affiliate. At one point, Muhammad was ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2012 and was considered a future potential No. 1 draft pick.**

NEW YORK — Shabazz Muhammad has traded in his Gucci backpack for a Jonas Brothers backpack.

As Kevin Martin and several of Muhammad’s Minnesota Timberwolves teammates spoke with reporters Sunday night following the team’s 109-100 victory over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Muhammad quietly slipped out of the visitors locker room with a pink Jonas Brothers backpack slung over his shoulder.

He’s no longer the high school superstar he once was at Las Vegas Bishop Gorman High School, when he was considered one of the top two prospects in the Class of 2012. No longer the one-and-done phenom who was spotted wearing a $1,000 Gucci backpack this past January at UCLA.

Stanley Johnson enjoyed his weekend visit to USC but now plans on taking a couple of weeks off before his next visit.

“It was good, it was good,” the 6-foot-6 Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei wing told SNY.tv Sunday night. “They did their job. I had a great time on campus and seeing the team.

“They feel like I’m the missing piece to making the NCAA Tournament. They would use me at the 2, the 3, the 1 to bring it up. They’ll let me be me and I’m the only 3 that they have on the roster. They would let me play my style of play, let me play how I know how to play.”

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