October 2015 | Page 9 of 21 | 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.
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Articles, Indiana, Maryland, Recruiting

KeglerMario Kegler enjoyed his weekend official visit to Maryland and will look to trim his list following his final official to Indiana next weekend.

“It was great,” Omhar Carter, Kegler’s guardian, told SNY.tv following Kegler’s official visit to campus for Midnight Madness. “The coaching staff was good. Their plan for him as far as how they want to use him, he’ll play the guard positions. He’ll be a guard, so they’ll play him at all guard spots. They have five post players who are 6-10 or above. He’ll play some two guard and some three.”

Carter said they could feel the excitement around a Maryland program that was picked No. 1 in the preseason by ESPN in August and has several NBA prospects, including freshman big man Diamond Stone.

“It’s too much [excitement], it’s ridiculous,” he said. “The fans, the media, it was crazy. Everybody hovering around and it’s just a different aspect.”

Articles, Recruiting, St. Benedict's, St. Joe's

ToroArnaldo Toro, a 6-foot-9 2016 power forward from St. Benedict’s Prep, enjoyed his official visit to St. Joe’s over the weekend.

“It was really good, I enjoyed it,” Toro said. “I like how people were enjoying the place and the campus was nice as well.”

St. Joe’s coach Phil Martelli and assistant Dave Duda scouted Toro several times at St. Benedict’s in advance of the visit, and are very high on his skill set.

“They will use me to stretch the floor and create space and use my shooting and passing skill with it,” he said.

The native of Puerto Rico is down to George Washington, St. Joe’s and Kansas State and will visit Kansas State Oct. 29.  He has already visited GW. Indiana has also been texting Toro, but no visit is planned yet.

Articles, Oak Hill Academy, Recruiting, Roselle Catholic, St. John's

Jordan Tucker , a 6-foot-7 2017 wing from White Plains (N.Y.) Archbishop Stepinac, took another unofficial visit to St. John’s over the weekend and enjoyed it.

Tucker, ranked No. 30 in the 2017 ESPN 60, also visited in September and played an open gym with the team, which includes nine newcomers under first-year coach Chris Mullin.

Articles, Duke, Kentucky, Recruiting

GilesHarry Giles took the third of five official visits to Kentucky over the weekend for Big Blue Madness.

He joined several other elite 2016 prospects, including guards De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk. The three players are projected as Top 10 picks in the 2017 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com.

The 6-foot-10 Giles has now taken officials to Wake Forest, Kansas and Kentucky, with Duke still on the board. He is slated to visit Duke over Halloween weekend. The Blue Devils already have a commitment from Giles’ close friend Jayson Tatum, the projected No. 2 pick in the 2017 Draft.

Giles won’t visit North Carolina, Oak Hill coach Steve Smith told SNY.tv on Sunday.

Articles, St. John's

11370201NEW YORK — St. John’s freshman point guard Marcus LoVett has not yet been cleared by the NCAA, but the school is hopeful that the dynamic 6-foot floor general will be cleared in time for the season-opener Nov. 13 against Wagner, multiple sources told SNY.tv.

Like Kentucky freshman big man Skal Labissiere and Kansas freshman forward Cheick Diallo, LoVett and fellow freshman forward Kassoum Yakwe are both not yet cleared by the NCAA, although it appears that the 6-7 Yakwe will redshirt this season with the expectation of playing in 2016-17.

“Both are [NCAA] Clearinghouse issues,” one source told SNY.tv.

A St. John’s spokesman said there were no new developments on either LoVett or Yakwe as of the weekend.

Arizona

LauriArizona scored a huge recruiting coup on Saturday when they landed Finnish power forward Lauri Markkanen.

The 6-foot-10 Markkanen chose Arizona on his visit after also tripping to Utah and North Carolina this week.

“I think I have a chance to go play against great guys every day in practice,” Markkanen, who is Sean Miller’s first 2016 commit, told Scout.com. “I think I can get minutes here. I like everything I see here.”

Said his Finnish coach Hanno Mottola: “I know he has felt comfortable with Arizona all summer and enjoyed Sean Miller’s visit and his own visit. There is a big chance to play right away and the uptempo style suits him.”

Markkanen averaged 18.2 points and 6.3 rebounds at the recent FIBA U18 World Championships. He is projected as the No. 20 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com.

“He is an ideal stretch power forward,” Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com said. “Good athlete, terrific shooter, can create a little bit off the dribble. Can take the rebound and go coast-to-coast. Competes on defense even though he’s not a great shot-blocker or rebounder. I really like his upside. It’s very hard to find guys like him these days, everybody’s looking for guys like that. He can play a little bit of five in college because he’s got such got great size. He’s really improved in the last year and a half. 

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