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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.

Here’s a look at some of the top non-conference college basketball events for the 2014-15 season.

Nov. 14: Veterans Classic, Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD

Teams: Tennessee vs. VCU, Michigan State vs. Navy.

 

Nov. 14: Armed Forces Classic, U.S. Coast Guard Air Station, Puerto Rico

Teams: Louisville vs. Minnesota

 

Nov. 18: State Farm Champions Classic, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

Teams: Duke vs. Michigan State, Kansas vs. Kentucky

 

Nov. 20-21: 2K Classic, Madison Square Garden, NY

Teams: Texas vs. Iowa, Syracuse vs. California (Winners play Nov. 21)

BrownFollowing the Adidas Nations event this week in California, UCLA benefitted by hosting a trio of bigtime recruits in Jaylen Brown, Brandon Ingram and Thon Maker.

“Coach Steve Alford is a real down to Earth,” the 6-foot-6 Brown told SNY.tv earlier this summer when he broke down his schools. “Coach [David] Grace is a real cool guy. Everything is great about that program and everything over there.”

Actually, a water main recently broke at UCLA, flooding Pauley Pavilion but Brown told NBCSports.com before the visit he wasn’t concerned.

“[The UCLA coaches] said that Pauley is down, but it’s alright,” Brown said. “Everybody is tweeting me like it’s going to have some type of effect on my decision or something. It’s not. It’s fine.

Jalen Brunson, one of the top point guards in the Class of 2015, has set three official visits for later this summer, according to Joe Henricksen.

The Chicago Stevenson star will visit Illinois Aug. 29-31, Villanova Sept. 4-6 and Temple Sept. 11-13.

Brunson has cut his list to eight and is also considering Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and UConn.

Temple was reportedly set to hire Rick Brunson, the former pro and Jalen’s father, as an assistant coach but the elder Brunson was charged in July with criminal sexual assault and battery following an encounter with a massage therapist.

It remains unclear how that situation will impact Jalen’s recruitment by Temple or in general.

The San Antonio Spurs made history on Tuesday by announcing that former New York Liberty star Becky Hammon has been hired as an assistant coach.

She is the second female assistant coach in NBA history, following Lisa Boyer, who served on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ staff under John Lucas in 2001-2. Boyer was part time and was not paid by the time, while Hammon will be a full-time paid employee.

“It’s a tremendous challenge, and it comes with tremendous responsibility,” Hammon said Tuesday, according to The New York Times. “There have been so many other women that are doing really, really great things, and I’m just kind of following in their paths.”

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