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.
N.C. State transfer Tyler Lewis and uncommitted senior forward Jackson Davis both visited Butler this week and came away feeling good about their visits.
“My visit went extremely well,” the 5-foot-11 Lewis told SNY.tv. “I really like the way they play and have a lot of respect for the coaching staff.”
A 2012 McDonald’s All-American, Lewis averaged 4.4 points and 3.8 assists this past season at N.C. State, setting a school record and finishing second in the ACC with a 3.55:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Four historic college basketball programs — Indiana, Louisville, Maryland and Villanova – will participate in the 20th annual Jimmy V Men’s Basketball Classic doubleheader on Tuesday, Dec. 9. ESPN will televise both games from New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden, beginning with Villanova vs. Maryland at 7 p.m. ET followed by Indiana vs. Louisville at 9 p.m.
The early-season event will conclude the eighth annual Jimmy V Week, a weeklong initiative across multiple ESPN platforms and programs featuring special content to help raise funds for cancer research. In seven years, Jimmy V Week has generated $8,246,000 in total contributions for The V Foundation for Cancer Research, including a record-setting number of $1,827,000 in 2014.
Each game will include a defending conference champion that participated in the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship and lost to an eventual Final Four team: Defending BIG EAST regular-season champion Villanova, a two-seed in the NCAA Championship, lost to Connecticut while American regular-season co-champion and conference champion, Louisville, lost to Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen.
Isaiah Whitehead is the first Seton Hall commit to make the McDonald’s All-American game since Andre Barrett and the late Eddie Griffin in 2000 and the first New York City player since Loughlin’s JayVaughn Pinkston in 2010.
Heading into Wednesday night’s game, the 6-foot-4 Whitehead has already impressed at least one NBA scout in attendance in Chicago.
“Whitehead can shoot it,” the scout told SNY.tv. “Whitehead looks like a good player to me, that’s a good player for Seton Hall to get.
Of the 24 players participating in Wednesday’s McDonald’s All-American Game, only one is undecided on college.
That would be Myles Turner, the 7-footer from Trinity High School in Texas.
Turner is targeting a decision by mid- to late-April after he competes in the McDonald’s Game, the Nike Hoop Summit (April 12) and the Jordan Brand Classic (April 18).
“After the Jordan Brand Classic, I’m going to sit down with my family and do my best to set a date to commit,” he said Wednesday during the McDonald’s Game on ESPN.
Turner officially lists nine schools, his father recently told SNY.tv, but the perception is that it is a two-horse race between Kansas and Texas.
“It’s definitely a lot more open than [Kansas and Texas]” Turner said, according to Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. “A lot of people assume that it’s just Kansas and Texas, because it’s close to home, it’s the Big 12. But I’m definitely looking at all my options. … I don’t even know where I’m going yet.”
Esa Ahmad, a 6-foot-8 power forward from Cleveland (Ohio) Shaker Heights who was named the Cleveland Plain Dealer Player of the Year, will visit Cincinnati beginning April 11, his father told SNY.tv.
“We know they have a good program and a great coach,” Ibby Ahmad, Esa’s father, told SNY.tv. “We want to get a feel for the college.”
Ranked No. 89 in the Class of 2015 by 247 Sports, Ahmad has already visited Ohio State, Xavier, Dayton, Clemson, Rutgers, Virginia Tech and Cleveland State and his father said he plans to visit West Virginia, Michigan and Michigan State.