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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.

Andre RafusAfter losing three friends to shooting deaths in the city of Baltimore in the last four years, Andre Rafus decided it was time to get out.

So the 6-foot-9, 190-pound Class of 2017 forward will transfer this summer to St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark from Baltimore St. Frances and will play for head coach Mark Taylor.

“I chose to transfer to St. Benedict’s in New Jersey because I think I need to get out of Baltimore and that’s the best fit for me,” Rafus told SNY.tv, which first reported the news of his transfer.

“My main goal is getting my family out of Baltimore. It’s crazy, there’s a whole lot of shootings down here.”

jamal-murray-action-21Kentucky freshman guards Jamal Murray and Isaiah Briscoe both moved up in the latest 2016 NBA Mock Draft from DraftExpress.com, giving the Wildcats a total of five players in next year’s mock.

The 6-foot-5 Murray moved to No. 16 from No. 21, and the 6-3 Briscoe moved into the No. 19 spot after previously being absent from the 2016 mock.

Murray recently committed to Kentucky after reclassing to 2015 and said he planned to be one-and-done.

Incoming Kentucky big man Skal Labissiere remains the projected No. 1 pick, followed by Cal wing Jaylen Brown at No. 2, LSU forward Ben Simmons at No. 3, Duke forward Brandon Ingram at No. 4 and European forward Dragan Bender at No. 5.

Rawle Alkins is going to make somebody’s prep school team really good next year.

The 6-foot-5 Christ the King guard announced on Twitter he will spend the 2015-16 season at prep school after his high school clock in New York City ran out.

Sources told SNY.tv that several area prep schools were already working on landing Alkins for 2015-16 and why not? He owns scholarship offers from virtually every major program in the nation, including Kentucky, Kansas, Texas, Villanova, Indiana, Louisville, Cincinnati, N.C. State, St. John’s and more. Duke and North Carolina have also expressed interest.

derek1Seton hall officially added three transfers to complete the 2015-16 roster.

Joining the Pirates are Braeden Anderson, a native of Okotoks, Alberta in Canada and a former student-athlete at Fresno State, Derrick Gordon, a Plainfield, N.J., resident and former student-athlete at Massachusetts, and Jevon Thomas, a former student-athlete at Kansas State originally from Queens.

Gordon, the first openly gay Division 1 men’s basketball player, and Anderson are eligible in 2015-16. Thomas, whose commitment was first reported by SNY.tv in May, must sit a year.

“We are excited to welcome Braeden, Derrick and Jevon to the Seton Hall Basketball family,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “We have identified three talented individuals who each bring different skill sets and a wealth of experience to our team, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that they have chosen to continue their educations and basketball careers at Seton Hall.”

NCAA Basketball: St. John at DePaulTransferring St. John’s big man Chris Obekpa is visiting Minnesota from Thursday-Saturday and is considering several other schools as well, sources told SNY.tv.

The 6-foot-9 Obekpa is also considering N.C. State, Arizona State and Alabama, sources told SNY.tv. He will have to sit out the 2015-16 season, per NCAA transfer rules.

The Minnesota visit was previously reported by Scout.com.

Obekpa played in 95 games during his career with the Red Storm, averaging 4.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. The  center from Makurdi, Nigeria, led the Big East in blocked shots three straight years and holds the program’s career (321), single-season (133) and single-game (11) blocks records.

https://vine.co/v/O2JD0vrQZVM

Cal’s once vaunted 2015 recruiting class has taken a bit of a hit.

Davon Dillard, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Centereach (N.Y.) Our Savior New American, flipped to Oklahoma State from Cal, sources confirmed to SNY.tv.

“He had a change of heart,” coach Eric Jaklitsch told Scout.com. “He’s going to be a real nice player for them. He wanted to go to a school that he would fit in well and he is.”

An athletic wing player who can stroke it from beyond the arc, Dillard committed to Cal on March 1 after also considering Creighton, Indiana, Pitt and Purdue.

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