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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.

4_3720870Arizona is the latest to offer 2017 Oak Hill (VA) Academy point guard Matt Coleman, who said he spoke with Wildcats coach Sean Miller.

The 6-foot Coleman has offers from Old Dominion, Virginia, VCU, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Memphis, UConn, Texas, Indiana, Seton Hall, Florida and Arizona, but told SNY.tv that Indiana, Arizona, Old Dominion, Texas, Florida and Ohio State were working the hardest.

Coleman, who transferred from Maury (VA), is ranked the No. 5 point guard in the Class of 2017 by 247Sports.com.

Kentucky is the latest high-profile program to offer Jarred Vanderbilt, a 6-foot-8 2017 small forward from Bellaire (TX) Victory Prep.

4_3726137He holds offers from Kansas, Texas, Baylor, Creighton and Houston, among others, according to 247Sports.com.

“Jarred Vanderbilt is an extremely versatile player at 6-9,” Houston Hoops coach Tim Schumacher told SNY.tv. “He handles like a guard and is a tremendous athlete. He is a great rebounder and can really pass the basketball. He is one of the top players in the the country in the Class of 2017.”

Vanderbilt won a gold medal with the USA U16 team earlier this summer alongside Wendell Carter Jr. and Gary Trent Jr., who have discussed a potential package at Duke, among other programs.

image004The Maui Jim Maui Invitational today announced its 2015 Championship Round bracket. The bracket sets up a potential championship game pitting two preseason top-10 teams and semifinal contests featuring four of the winningest teams in NCAA history. The 32nd edition of the nation’s premier early-season college basketball tournament will be held Nov. 23-25 at the Lahaina Civic Center in Maui, Hawaii.

Jamal MurrayBy JOSH NEWMAN

Jamal Murray was a revelation for the Canadian National Team at the Pan American Games, helping it earn a silver medal for the country’s highest-ever finish at the event.

That event was not the priority, though, as Canada will now circle the wagons and prepare for the FIBA Americas Championship next month. The top teams there will be through to the 2016 Rio Olympics. Canada has not been to an Olympics since the 2000 Sydney Games, while Canada head coach Jay Triano, a Trail Blazers assistant, has long painted this summer as a critical one for the National Team.

After Murray’s play at Pan Am, which included scoring all of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and overtime of a semifinal win over the United States, the question now becomes, can Canada field its best team for FIBA Americas without Murray? If the answer is no, things will get interesting because if Murray wants to play a full season at the University of Kentucky, he will eventually have to show up in Lexington.

FIBA Americas runs Aug. 31-Sept. 12 in Mexico City. Classes at Kentucky begin on Aug. 26. With that, Wildcats head coach John Calipari has provided Canada Basketball officials with a ‘drop-dead’ date Murray would have to arrive on campus, according to The Sporting News.

“We’ll see if there’s any way he can do both, because that’s what I want,” Calipari told Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News. “The kid absolutely wants to play for the national team, and we want that. But the NCAA has really clear guidelines on this.”

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