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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.

By JACK LeGWIN

Special to ZAGSBLOG

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Oak Hill (Va.) Academy point guard Shelton Mitchell has been released from his Letter of Intent to Wake Forest after the coaching change and will take visits to Vanderbilt and Cal soon.

“Cal, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Purdue, Cincinnati, Tennessee, all of the schools in Charlotte have shown interest,” Mitchell told SNY.tv at the Josh Level Classic on Friday. “I’m just looking for a good program, but I’m also looking for a school where I could get a good education. I’m looking for a good relationship with the coaching staff, because I am a point guard, so we need to be on the same page.”

By CHIP MILLER & ADAM ZAGORIA

DUNCANVILLE, TX –– Las Vegas High School wing Ray Smith is looking to trim his list soon.

“Coming up sometime probably in the next month or so,” Smith said at the recent Adidas stop. “Then I will probably be committing sometime soon.”

Smith listed a slew of schools as being in contact right now: UCLA, Arizona, Texas, Georgetown, Arizona State, Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, UNLV, San Diego State, UConn and New Mexico.

At 6 feet, 9 inches and with tremendous athleticism, Cheick Diallo will be one of the most highly recruited players in the Class of 2015.

The big man out of Our Savior New American High School is ranked No. 8 in the 2015 ESPN 60.

Information on his recruitment has been tightly guarded, but sources said Kentucky, Kansas, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Iowa State and St. John’s are among the schools in the mix for Diallo. Many of those programs watched him play with Team Scan at the recent Nike EYBL stop in Sacramento and will continue to monitor him this summer.

Now that New York’s Barry “Slice” Rohrssen is on the staff at Kentucky, the Wildcats are expected to pick up their recruitment of Diallo

Iowa State has landed 11 transfers in the Fred Hoiberg Era, and former Oregon State guard Hallice Cooke could become the 12th.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound former St. Anthony standout is currently on his visit to the Big 12 program and they are the presumed favorite for his services, sources told SNY.tv.

“I’m on my visit to Iowa State,” Cooke told SNY.tv Friday night. “It’s good.”

Cooke averaged 8.2 points last season while shooting 46 percent from beyond the arc and would be a great addition for Iowa State, should he opt to go there.

OllieUConn is in talks with coach Kevin Ollie about a significant raise and extension, a source close to the situation confirmed to SNY.tv Friday evening.

The source said UConn was looking to pay Ollie $2.6 million annually as “the floor” in a deal that could last five years.

That could make Ollie, fresh off an NCAA championship win last month, the highest paid coach in the American Athletic Conference.

“He had to be the top guy in the league,” the source said.

Ollie reportedly earned $1.25 million last season and in December 2012 signed a five-year deal worth $7.5 million. 

Jordan Hare, a 6-foot-10 sophomore, is “likely” to re-join the Rhode Island program for next season, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told SNY.tv.

Hare is listed on the Rams’ roster for 2014-15.

The news was previously reported by the Providence Journal.

The Saginaw, Mich., native played his freshman season for head coach Dan Hurley, but missed his sophomore year due to personal reasons.

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