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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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Monday / April 20.
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    • Articles

    Wisconsin Frank Kaminsky sizedWisconsin was a unanimous first-place pick and Rutgers was a unanimous last-place pick in a poll of Big Ten writers conducted  by Bob Baptist of the Columbus Dispatch, according to the Detroit Free Press.

    Wisconsin, which returns All-America forward Frank Kaminsky and All-Big Ten wing candidate Sam Dekker from last year’s Final Four team, received 378 votes.

    The Badgers were followed by Ohio State, Michigan State, Nebraska and Michigan in the 2-5 spots.

    Maryland, one of two Big Ten newcomers, was picked to finish 10th, while Rutgers was a unanimous pick for 14th place in the 14-team league.

    Articles, Indiana

    Indiana on Tuesday landed a pledge from 6-foot-8 forward Ogugua Anunoby, who also considered Georgia, Iowa and Ole Miss.

    Anunoby, out of Jefferson City (Mo.) High School, joins Juwan Morgan in Tom Crean’s 2015 class.

    He is ranked No. 194 in the 247, but Team Thad coach Norton Hurd said his upside is “extremely high.”

    “His upside, he’s top 10 [or] top 5 in having the most upside in that class,” Hurd said. “He’s a versatile guy that can play the 2 through 4. He’s 6-8 with a 7-1 wingspan. He’s crazy athletic. He can touch the top of the square. He’s really good at the midrange [jumper] and can stretch the floor with the 3.”

    Articles, UCLA

    While there has been much chatter about visitors to Kansas and Kentucky for their Midnight Madness events, don’t sleep on UCLA.

    The Bruins today (Tuesday) will host 6-foot 2017 Mater Dei (CA) point guard Jaylen Hands, a source confirmed to SNY.tv after Andrew Slater of 247Sports reported it.

    Hands is also being courted by California, Memphis, San Diego, San Diego State, and USC, but the 247Sports crystal ball is 100 percent in favor of the Bruins.

    Meantime, UCLA will host 2015 big men Brandon Ingram (pictured) and Stephen Zimmerman next weekend, and 2015s Carlton Bragg and Jaylen Brown Oct. 31.

    Articles, Kentucky

    TownsKarl Anthony-Towns is Kentucky’s best NBA prospect by far and Andrew and Aaron Harrison look like borderline first-round draft picks, one veteran NBA scout who was at Kentucky’s combine over the weekend told SNY.tv.

    “Karl Towns is their best prospect and it’s not close, it’s not close,” said the scout, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he’s not permitted to comment on draft prospects.

    “He’s only going to get better. Outside of [Duke’s Jahlil] Okafor, those are probably the two best big offensive players in college. He’s that good. At 6-11, 7 feet tall, he’s got a lot of offensive talent, he really does. He can score from the perimeter and he can score down on the block. He can do both. He’s very talented, very talented.”

    Articles

    Thon MakerA handful of schools are working hardest for Thon Maker, the 7-footer ranked No. 1 in the Class of 2016, according to his guardian, Ed Smith.

    Kentucky, Indiana, Kansas, Stanford, Missouri and Maryland are recruiting Maker the “heaviest,” Smith told Steve Jones of the Louisville Courier-Journal.

    Now at Athlete Institute in Canada, Maker is currently in the Class of 2016 and has yet to decide whether he will reclass to 2015, which would make him eligible for the 2016 NBA Draft.

    “I wouldn’t say it’s a lean thing (one way or the other),” Smith said. “If you’re physically ready and have finished your core (academic) work, you can move up, but there’s no need to rush in terms of this whole thing.”

    Articles, Manhattan

    EzeManhattan coach Steve Masiello landed two big 2015 frontcourt players on Monday when he got commitments from 6-foot-8 Vincent Eze of Putnam Science (CT) and 6-10 Akintoye Ojo of Cardinal Hayes in The Bronx.

    Both players are originally from Nigeria.

    “They could be a very tough duo at that level defensively and on the glass,” Putnam associate head coach Josh Scraba told SNY.tv. “The way Manhattan plays and disperses minutes, you must play hard in shorter spurts which will give Vincent [and Akintoye] plenty of opportunity to play all the minutes [they] can handle.”

    Eze (pictured) is a 6-8, 215-pound four man who also considered Charleston Southern and Maine. He transferred to Putnam after averaging 13.1 points per game as a senior and 12.5 as a junior at Notre Dame Green Pond (PA).

    Articles

    Admon Gilder, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound shooting guard from Dallas (TX) James Madison, is down to four schools and will announce his college choice at 11 a.m. local time Thursday at his high school.

    Gilder is considering Oklahoma State, Baylor, SMU and Texas A&M, where he visited this past weekend.

    “I’m announcing Thursday,” he said, adding that he had not yet decided in his own mind.

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