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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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Recruiting, St. John's

mbb033115Junior college star Bashir Ahmed enjoyed his official visit to St. John’s over the weekend and still has one more trip to Louisville planned.

“I had a great weekend,” he told SNY.tv. “St. John’s was great. I enjoyed going back home for the visit. The coaches were great. The team is like a family and I felt like I was a part of their family.

“The coaches are very close with their players. I got a chance to play with them and I think it’s a great fit.”

St. John’s coach Chris Mullin and his staff are hoping to add both the 6-foot-7, 205-pound combo guard from The Bronx and 6-1 Thomas Jefferson point guard Shamorie Ponds to their 2016 recruiting class. Ponds is set to announce on Tuesday.

Recruiting, St. John's

"CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - NBPA Players Association Top 100 Camp at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville Virginia on June 18, 2015. (Photo by Kelly Kline/Under Armour)"

Shamorie Ponds will announce on Tuesday. (Photo by Kelly Kline/Under Armour)

Shamorie Ponds will hold a press conference to announce his college choice on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. at Brooklyn Thomas Jefferson High School.

All signs point to St. John’s for the 6-foot-1 Ponds after Providence landed point guard Maliek White on Sunday night.

Ponds has taken officials to Providence, St. John’s and Creighton.

Whoever lands Ponds should be getting a stud.

UConn

BoatBy JOSH NEWMAN

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The way Nets head coach Lionel Hollins tells it, there was little doubt that Ryan Boatright would be at training camp with the Nets.

The former Connecticut star worked out for the Nets on June 15, 10 days before the NBA Draft. Then, after the 6-footer went undrafted, the Nets took him to Summer League in Orlando and Las Vegas, where he averaged 14.1 points on 41.2 percent shooting from the field and 43.6 percent from 3-point range.

“I wasn’t even looking at Boatright that much during the summer,” Hollins said matter-of-factly on Monday morning at Nets Media Day at PNY Center. “Coaches would tell me what he was doing, but I’m looking at the game, the overall game and guys outside of somebody like Boatright that we might bring back. Looking at him, we already knew we were bringing him back and whatever he did in the Summer League wasn’t going to determine if he stuck in the fall anyway.”

“After my workout, I knew that they liked me, but you know how that goes in the NBA,” Boatright said. “It wasn’t a guarantee I would be back. It wasn’t even a guarantee after Summer League. I knew that I increased my chances a lot after the way that I played, but it was never a guarantee until I got the call.”

Syracuse

NCAA Basketball: Florida State at SyracuseBy JOSH NEWMAN

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Chris McCullough may be a rookie with the Nets, but he is about to experience something of a redshirt season anyway.

The former Syracuse star is recovering from a torn ACL suffered on Jan. 11 against Florida State. Despite that, the Nets made him the 29th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

His rehabilitation is coming along, but the Nets won’t have him available in a full capacity until around January. That means head coach Lionel Hollins is likening this season to something many college players go through when injured.

“Basically, this is a ‘redshirt year’ and secondly, somebody said it, he’s like our Lottery pick for next year and I agree with that,” Hollins said Monday morning at Nets Media Day at PNY Center. “He’s a guy that is definitely part of the future, so hopefully, we can get him back early so he can get a lot of work in and then go through the summer and Summer League.”

“I’m not rushing to get on the court yet,” McCullough said. “I’m just gonna take my time and get healthy first. I don’t have no timetable, I’m just gonna focus on getting healthy.”

Articles, Recruiting, UConn

4_3721417Vance Jackson, a 6-foot-8 combo forward from Prolific Prep (CA), visited UConn this weekend and enjoyed his time there.

“I love the whole school, the facilities, the coaching staff and the team,” Jackson told SNY.tv.

Jackson is especially close with UConn sophomore guard Daniel Hamilton, with whom he played at St. John Bosco.

“We are like brothers,” he said. “I’ve been playing with him since the eighth grade.”

The No. 10 small forward in the Class of 2016 according to 247Sports.com, Jackson figures to be a force in college.

Articles, Baylor, Oak Hill Academy

4_3721433Following a weekend official visit to Baylor, Mario Kegler has the Big 12 program near the top of his list.

“I would say Baylor’s up there, yeah,” Omhar Carter, Kegler’s guardian and AAU coach,  told SNY.tv Sunday evening. “They cannot not be up there.”

Arizona State is also strongly in the mix but this weekend’s Baylor visit certainly made an impression.

“It was great,” Carter said. “The campus, the way they’re building their program with the new age techniques and all that stuff, how they’re trying to build the coaching staff. How many coaches they have around, they have enough coaching staff that the kids will never be in a situation where he’s on campus by himself, no down time. It’s just a great setup. It’s organized, it was good.”

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