January 2014 | Page 7 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, Creighton

    McDermott fistA few years back, a young man like Asante Gist likely wouldn’t have known much, if anything, about Creighton University.

    After all, Gist attends school at Roselle (N.J.) Catholic and Creighton is in, well, Omaha, Nebraska

    But several forces have come together in the past year or two to help Creighton enhance it’s recruiting profile with players like Gist, a talented 2016 point guard who also competes with USA Basketball.

    First, Creighton has a player you may have heard of by the name of Doug McDermott who is a favorite for National Player of the Year honors and is a projected NBA Draft lottery pick.

    Second, Creighton is now a part of the new-look Big East Conference that added the Bluejays, Butler and Xavier to help offset the losses of traditional heavyweights Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame.

    And finally, as a member of the Big East, Creighton is now showcased nationally on a regular basis on Fox Sports 1.

    Articles, Syracuse

    NEW YORK –– Michael Carter-Williams won the battle of former Syracuse stars on Wednesday night, and made an impression on Carmelo Anthony in the process.

    Making his first NBA appearance at Madison Square Garden, Carter-Williams went for 19 points, 12 rebound and 7 assists as the last-place Philadelphia 76ers beat the Knicks, 110-106, handing them their fifth straight loss.

    “This is my second time playing against him,” said Anthony, who finished with 28 points and 7 assists in the loss. “He played extremely well. He’s very under control, a big guard out there, can see over a lot of guards, make plays and he almost had a triple-double.”

    A leading contender for NBA Rookie of the Year honors, the 6-foot-6 Carter-Williams entered the game leading all rookies in points (17.5), assists (6.7), rebounds (5.7), and steals (2.5) per game.

    Articles, Kentucky, NBA Draft

    Back in November, both Magic Johnson and Jalen Rose told me they would take Kentucky’s Julius Randle with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft.

    That was before the emergence of Kansas‘ Joel Embiid, before Duke’s Jabari Parker proved he could put up 20 points virtually every night and before Dante Exum’s stock began to fully soar.

    Now here we are in mid-January and multiple mock drafts — including both Chad Ford’s and Chris Mannix’s — have the 6-foot-9 Randle going No. 5 overall. Ford has the Kentucky power forward going to the Utah Jazz.

    DraftExpress.com has Randle at No. 4 to the Philadelphia 76ers, with Exum at No. 5 to the Boston Celtics.

    That said, some lucky team — and it won’t be the Knicks — will get Randle, who has the potential to be a young Lamar Odom-type and potentially an NBA All-Star for the next 10-12 years.

    Syracuse

    NEW YORK — Tyler Ennis replaced Michael Carter-Williams as the starting point guard at Syracuse, and now Carter-Williams can’t help but be impressed by his successor.

    “I’ve seen a lot of Syracuse,” Carter-Williams said after putting up 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists as the Philadelphia 76ers beat former Syracuse star Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks, 110-106, at Madison Square Garden.

    “Tyler’s playing great. He’s leading that team, along with C.J. [Fair]. Jerami [Grant]’s playing great, Trevor [Cooney] also. They’re also playing great. They’re 18-0, they can’t be doing any better. I think Tyler’s really stepped up. He plays with a lot of poise and confidence so I’m proud of him.”

    Articles, Kentucky

    NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers are still debating how to handle Nerlens Noel’s return from ACL surgery and it remains possible the former Kentucky star could sit out this entire season.

    “I’m really not sure,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden before his team met the Knicks. “I mean, anything’s possible. I mean at this stage, we’re moving forward and he’s doing a good job.”

    The 6-foot-11 Noel was on the Garden court before the game shooting some one-handed jumpers, but has yet to be cleared for contact.

    Articles, Recruiting

    By JACK LeGWIN

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    The junior class is starting to get some serious point guard talent with Justin Simon‘s play showing that he has now entered the fray.

    The 6-foot-5 Temecula Valley (Cal.) point guard has recently garnered the interest of many high major schools since the summer, receiving offers from UCLA, Arizona and Colorado, and interest from many others.

    “Everyone’s done a good job,” Simon said. “I don’t really have any that are above any others though.”

    Articles, Seton Hall, St. John's

    Seton Hall is the only thing standing between St. John’s and an unbelievable 0-6 start to the Big East season.

    The Johnnies (10-8, 0-5 Big East) remain the lone winless team in the Big East and will likely have to win the Big East Tournament in March at Madison Square Garden to fulfill the NCAA Tournament expectations they set for themselves at the start of the year.

    On Thursday, St. John’s will have to beat the Pirates (11-7, 2-3) at Carnesecca Arena to avoid extending their domination of the league’s basement.

    “We’ve played competitively in our last three Big East games but came up short,” Johnnies coach Steve Lavin, who is in Year 4 of a six-year contract, said Wednesday. “We’ve made progress from the Georgetown game, but unfortunately you don’t always get the outcome you want to have. We feel our team is competing hard but just coming up short.”

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