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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.
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Arizona, Articles, Duke, NBA Draft

NEW YORK — Jabari Parker is 0-1 this year in meetings against his fellow super-freshmen.

Now comes Round 2.

After losing to Andrew Wiggins and Kansas at the Champions Classic Nov. 12 in Chicago, Parker and No. 6 Duke will now face Aaron Gordon and No. 4 Arizona Friday in the Preseason NIT Championship at Madison Square Garden.

Coach K wonders whether the freshmen are being overhyped by ESPN, but everyone agrees this group is special.

Articles, Drexel

NEW YORK — If there is one player here this week who is the polar opposite of super-frosh Jabari Parker and Aaron Gordon, it might just be Drexel’s Chris Fouch.

When Fouch began his college career — back in 2008 — Parker and Gordon were still in junior high school.

Now, the 6-foot-2 Fouch is a graduate student in his sixth year of college eligibility because of ankle, shoulder and ACL injuries during his career. He seems a grizzled veteran compared to the rookies, Parker from Duke and Gordon from Arizona.

While Parker and Gordon were making their Garden debuts Wednesday in the Preseason NIT, Fouch, a Bronx native, was appearing here for the sixth time.

And he didn’t seem at all awed by the surroundings.

Articles, Duke, NFL Draft

Parker-OkaforNEW YORK — It’s early, but Duke fans can fantasize, can’t they?

Fantasize about what a 2014-15 roster that includes both Jabari Parker and their No. 1-ranked recruiting class featuring Jahlil Okafor would look like in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“Oh, it would be great,” the 6-foot-8 Parker told SNY.tv Tuesday at a press conference in advance of tonight’s Preseason NIT in which Duke will face Alabama in one semifinal and Arizona will meet Drexel in the other.

“I would just work off him. A lot of attention would come up towards him and a lot of attention will come towards me, so we can work hand-in-hand with each other depending on where we are on different spots on the floor.”

Articles, Fordham

NEW YORK — Fordham hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1992, before current freshman sensation Jon Severe and many of his teammates were born.

The Rams haven’t been relevant in New York City or the Atlantic 10 Conference for years, either.

Head coach Tom Pecora, now in his fourth season at Fordham, brought a record of 26-66 into this season.

But Fordham provided a glimpse into a potentially brighter future on Tuesday night, when Severe scored a career-high 30 points and senior Branden Frazier added 21 as the Rams shocked MAAC preseason favorite Manhattan, 79-75, in the Battle of the Bronx at Draddy Gym.

“We knew it was going to be a great challenge when we came [to Fordham],” Pecora told SNY.tv after the win. “There’s been a lot of heavy lifting. But I feel comfortable that we’re moving in the right direction. Now can we be consistently good? That’s the question.”

Articles, Brewster Academy, Recruiting

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ogx8pO98f0&w=560&h=315]

NEW YORK –– Following his impressive performance last weekend at the National Prep Showcase, Brewster (N.H.) Academy 2015 point guard Donovan Mitchell has heard from a slew of schools, including Kansas and Florida.

Kansas assistant Norm Roberts reached out, while Florida offered Mitchell on Wednesday.

“I just received an offer from Florida [coach Billy Donovan],” he told SNY.tv Wednesday.

UConn, Providence, Boston College and Iowa also reached out to the 6-foot-3, 205-pound native of Elmsford, N.Y.

“All the schools that were there, they checked up on to me to make sure everything is alright,” Mitchell told SNY.tv Tuesday night after he watched Fordham beat Manhattan, 79-75, at Draddy Gym.

Articles, Duke, NBA Draft

NEW YORK — Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski doesn’t think it’s right that the “Big 4” college freshmen are getting non-stop media attention and he’s pointing the blame squarely at ESPN for overhyping them.

“Nationally I’m a little bit worried that that is always becoming the thing,” Coach K said Tuesday at a press conference in midtown Manhattan in advance of the Preseason NIT this week at Madison Square Garden.

“I think part of it is that the people who show our games, show NBA, too, so they’re constant thought is cross-promoting.”

ESPN shows both NBA and college games and Coach K believes that the constant hype of his own star freshman, Jabari Parker, along with Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins, Kentucky’s Julius Randle and Arizona’s Aaron Gordon, is done to cross-promote college basketball and the NBA on The Worldwide Leader. The quartet are all projected to go among the top 5 picks in the 2014 NBA Draft.

Pittsburgh, Rutgers

Derrick Randall says he’s in a “better” place now that he’s at Pittsburgh and away from Rutgers and the Mike Rice scandal.

“I have scars, but I am getting better – I smile because I don’t like to show my feelings – but it’s still with me. I get better day-by-day,” the 6-foot-9 Randall told Roger Rubin of the Daily News after grabbing five rebounds in Pitt’s 76-53 win over Texas Tech Monday in the Legends Classic.

Randall, a Brooklyn native and former Paterson (N.J.) Catholic standout, was one of four former Rutgers players who transferred after the Rice scandal in which he hurled basketball and homophobic slurs at his players. All four were granted waivers to play immediately this season. Randall told the Daily News he’s now in therapy with a psychiatrist because of what happened at Rutgers.

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