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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.
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Articles, N.C. State

4damxdfd_400x400One day after being visited in a helicopter by N.C. State head coach Mark Gottfried, point guard Dennis Smith Jr. committed to the Wolfpack.

Gottfried also met with Smith Jr.’s mother.

The 6-foot-2 floor general out of Fayetteville (N.C.) Trinity Christian recently cut his list to six schools — Kentucky, Duke, Louisville, N.C. State, Wake Forest and North Carolina.

“Growing up an NC State fan I knew they would be one of my top schools,” Smith Jr. told ESPN.com. “Coach Gottfried made me a priority, showing up, sitting in front to all my games in the live periods. That loyalty meant a lot to me. After giving the decision a lot of thought we all felt State was the best situation for me.”

Smith Jr. is rated No. 4 in the 2016 ESPN 100 and is projected as the No. 3 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com, meaning he may not be at N.C. State for long.

Tennis

serenaNEW YORK — Thanks to Mother Nature, Serena Williams‘ quest for a calendar Grand Slam will have to wait a day.

The women’s semifinals were postponed to Friday morning at 11 a.m. due to the weather, and will be followed by the men’s semifinals beginning at 5 p.m. There will be two separate ticketing sessions in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The women were supposed to begin play Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

No. 2 Simona Halep will meet No. 26 Flavia Pennetta in the first semifinal at 11 on Friday, with No. 1 Williams to face another Italian, Roberta Vinci, in the second match. Williams is 4-0 against Vinci, 7-0 against Pennetta and 6-1 against Halep.

North Carolina, Recruiting

ARDSLEY, NY - May 23: Under Armour Association session three at the House of Sports in Ardsley New York. (Photo by Kelly Kline/Under Armour)

Edrice Adebayo met with N.C. State on Wednesday. (Photo by Kelly Kline/Under Armour)

Edrice “Bam” Adebayo met with N.C. State head coach Mark Gottfried and his staff on Wednesday, but no decision on a college choice is imminent, according to Karolina Diamonds coach Kevin Graves, who attended the recruiting meeting.

Gottfried made a splash by taking a helicopter to recruit both the 6-foot-10 Adebayo and point guard Dennis Smith Jr., two priority recruits for N.C. State.

“Yeah, they came in on a helicopter,” Graves said by phone Thursday. “I think they went to see Dennis Smith first in Fayetteville and they went to see Bam’s mom and they came to see Bam at High Point.

Articles

DialloBy JOSH NEWMAN & ADAM ZAGORIA

Pittsburgh freshman point guard Damon Wilson has been academically cleared by the NCAA, but still faces some hurdles from the NCAA, a source told SNY.tv.

“He still has some hurdles, they haven’t totally cleared him,” the source said.

ESPN’s Jeff Goodman was first to report the news that Wilson was academically cleared.

Wilson went to Our Savior New American on Long Island, which has come under scrutiny of late, most recently when it was revealed that Kobie Eubanks was not cleared by the NCAA and will not enroll at the University of Alabama. However, with Wilson making it through the NCAA Eligibility Center, does this bode well for Cheick Diallo and the University of Kansas?

Tennis

Sep 9, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Roger Federer of Switzerland returns a shot to Richard Gasquet of France on day ten of the 2015 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK — The All-Swiss semifinal is on at the US Open.

Roger Federer and his Swiss compatriot Stan Wawrinka both won their quarterfinal matches on Wednesday night, setting up Friday’s clash in the semifinals between the two men who led Switzerland to the Davis Cup title in 2014.

No. 1 Novak Djokovic will meet defending champion and No. 9 Marin Cilic in the first semifinal on Friday afternoon, with No. 2 Federer and No. 5 Wawrinka to follow.

Federer will be appearing in a record 38th Grand Slam semifinal after beating No. 12 Richard Gasquet, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1, in 1 hour, 27 minutes inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. The crowd included Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon — who entertained the crowd at one point by dancing to Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ — and Andre Agassi, whom Federer beat in the 2005 US Open final.

Articles, St. John's

RawleOn the eve of leaving for Raleigh, Rawle visited St. John’s.

Rawle Alkins texted the St. John’s staff on Wednesday that he was coming for an unofficial visit the day before he is set to leave for his new school, Word of God Academy in Raleigh (N.C.)

On Tuesday, the 6-foot-5 Alkins announced that he would spend his senior season at Word of God under head coach Brian Clifton. 

“I’m going to have to make two really big decisions, where I’m going to be going to prep school and where I’m going to be attending college,” Alkins said at the adidas All-American Camp in July

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