February 2015 | Page 10 of 20 | 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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Saturday / November 23.

malik-newman2Wherever Malik Newman goes to college, don’t expect him to stay long.

The 6-foot-4 Callaway (MS) guard says he wishes there were no one-and-done rule so he could jump straight to the NBA.

“I would like to skip college and go straight to the NBA,” Newman told Mississippi News Now in this video interview.

Newman is projected as the No. 5 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com, but will have to spend at least a year on campus somewhere.

NCAA Basketball: N.C. State at LouisvilleLouisville junior Montrezl Harrell, UCLA freshman Kevon Looney and Texas freshman Myles Turner were among those named among the 16 watch list candidates for the 2015 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Tuesday.

Named after Hall of Famer and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Karl Malone, the annual honor in its inaugural year recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men’s basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel has determined the initial 16-player watch list.

NCAA Basketball: St. John's at Seton HallSeton Hall announced Tuesday it has suspended junior Sterling Gibbs two games for hitting Villanova guard Ryan Arcidiacono in the head during the second half of the team’s game at Villanova Monday night.

Gibbs, who apologized Monday night for the incident, will be inactive for the team’s Feb. 21 game at St. John’s and the Feb. 28 home game vs. Creighton.

“Sterling demonstrated poor sportsmanship last night, and he recognizes that what he did was wrong and that he must be held accountable for his actions,” Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard said. “This was out of Sterling’s character, and I believe this incident does not define the type of person he is or will become. Sterling will learn and grow from this unfortunate event.”

https://vine.co/v/OxA13uaIjnb

The Big East will review Sterling Gibbs‘ punch of Ryan Arcidiacono’s head that resulted in a flagrant foul 2 during Villanova’s 80-54 rout of Seton Hall Monday night.

“These situation are always reviewed,” Big East spokesman John Paquette told SNY.tv.

Gibbs later apologized for the incident, Tweeting out, “Man that’s not who I am. I’m sorry to my family, friends, fans, and team for being an embarrassment. Even more sorry to @RyArch15 .. I let my emotions get the best of me and that wasn’t acceptable at all. I hope you’re alright and I will face any consequences coming”

FIBA Americas U18 Mens ChampionshipFuture Duke, Kentucky and Arizona players are among those looking forward to playing for what could be a loaded USA U19 National Team this summer in the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship.

The event will be held June 27-July 5 in Crete, Greece.

Kentucky-bound point guard Isaiah Briscoe, the future Duke duo of Chase Jeter and Luke Kennard and Arizona signee Allonzo Trier all told SNY.tv they are looking forward to trying out — and hopefully making — the team. All four played last summer on the U18 National Team that won gold at the 2014 FIBA Americas Championship under the direction of Florida coach Billy Donovan.

NCAA Basketball: Duke at St. JohnWisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky, Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein are among the 15 players who made the watch list for the 2015 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced on Monday.

Named for Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor in its first year recognizes the top centers in men’s college basketball.

The watch list of 15 candidates was determined by a national committee comprised of top college basketball personnel.

NCAA Basketball: Vanderbilt at KentuckyBy JOSH NEWMAN

John Calipari will start a season 26-0 for the third time in his career if the University of Kentucky defeats Tennessee on Tuesday evening in Knoxville.

Nineteen years after Calipari did it for the first time at the University of Massachusetts, the Wildcats’ head coach has grown wiser in terms of how to handle things once he finds himself with an undefeated team in the middle of February.

“The reality of it is the kids have to manage those things, not me because I’m not out there on the court,” Calipari said on the SEC media teleconference Monday morning. “I’ve got one job and my first time when we did this at UMass, I knew we were slipping, but we kept winning, so I put my head in the sand and I was just like, ‘Let these guys go do their thing.'”

“I was a little bit of the same, but got better at Memphis. I’m trying really hard not to do that here, but to do my job and to correct them, be tough on them, to not worry about scoring and coach them. It’s hard.”

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