November 2013 | Page 5 of 22 | 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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Articles, UConn

ALI,-PRINCE_6_25_150By JACK LeGWIN & ADAM ZAGORIA

Prince Ali has wanted to commit to UConn for about a month, but finally made up his mind this past weekend.

The 6-foot-4, 190-pound 2015 combo guard out of Sagemont (Fla.) saw Shabazz Napier and the No. 18 Huskies beat Indiana Friday night in the 2K Classic championship at Madison Square Garden and then visited the UConn campus on Saturday.

After spending that day with head coach Kevin Ollie, Ali, a Bronx, N.Y., native who still has a brother and other family members there, finally decided to announce his decision on Monday.

“It’s close to New York,” Ali told SNY.tv by phone Monday evening. “Me and Coach Ollie have a real good relationship. The coaching staff is good. There’s a  lot to it.”

Kentucky

Young_James_2013-14Kentucky freshman James Young won SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Monday.

Young led the Wildcats with 26 points in a 105-76 win over UT Arlington last week. En route to the 26 points, Young knocked down five 3-pointers and made eight of his 14 (.571) field goal attempts. Young also dished out a career-high three assists and had two rebounds and two steals.

His teammate Julius Randle took SEC Player of the Week honors last week.

Here’s a legitimate question, or two actually: How many SEC Freshman of the Week honors will Kentucky players take home this season? And can they win all of them?

Articles, Fordham

Eric Paschall will be in the stands at Draddy Gymnasium Tuesday night when Fordham visits Manhattan in what should be an interesting non-conference affair between New York City programs.

But Rams head coach Tom Pecora probably wishes he could suit up the 6-foot-6, 220-pound Paschall to play against the Steve Masiello-coached Jaspers, who were picked to win the MAAC.

“He is an important piece to the process of our future success,” Pecora said when Paschall officially signed his Letter of Intent. “Eric will have an immediate impact on our program when he joins us next year.”

Pecora’s program already features the reigning New York State Mr. Basketball in freshman guard Jon Severe, who enters the Manhattan contest averaging 21.5 points per game.

Articles, Huntington Prep, Recruiting

Huntington (W.V.) Prep combo guard JaQuan Lyle says he’s considering eight schools.

“I have eight schools I’m considering,” Lyle told the Charleston (W.V.) Gazette. “Kansas, Providence, Oregon, West Virginia, Indiana, Connecticut, Memphis and Florida State.

“There’s really no leader. I’m just enjoying the process and season.”

Kansas assistant Jerrance Howard met with Lyle last week at Huntington Prep and the two sides are working out an official visit.

Articles, Duke, Recruiting, Roselle Catholic

Duke will be in the New York area later this week for the Preseason NIT at Madison Square Garden, and they may do some recruiting while in the region.

Roselle (N.J.) Catholic coach Dave Boff told SNY.tv that Duke special assistant Jon Scheyer had expressed interest in 2015 guard Isaiah Briscoe and 2015 forward Chris Silva.

“They’re up at the Garden this week and they might stop in on Tuesday for an open gym,” Boff said. “[Scheyer] was going to try and bring Coach [K]. He said he would let me know today or tomorrow. If they can’t make it on Tuesday they have a window of a six-day break in mid-December.”

Articles

Marcus Paige and his North Carolina teammates spent three and a half hours watching game tape of their loss to Belmont a week ago.

Apparently it paid off.

Paige scored a combined 58 points in two games in Connecticut, including a career-high 32 on Sunday as North Carolina stunned defending NCAA champion and No. 3 Louisville, 93-84, to win the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament.

“We watched the entire [Belmont] tape,” Paige told ESPN’s Andy Katz.

Articles

Dante Exum

Dante Exum finished school at the Australian Institute of Sport on Friday and now the basketball world awaits his next move.

The 6-foot-6 Exum may take some visits to American colleges in the coming months, with Indiana, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan and Oregon making his list of finalists.

Even if he visits schools, however, he may still end up in the 2014 NBA Draft, where he is projected as the No. 3 pick behind Andrew Wiggins and Julius Randle by DraftExpress.com.

“It’s been one of my dreams for a while. I always look at results and try to put myself in that situation in a way,” Exum told Australia’s Herald Sun of a future in the NBA.

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