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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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Knicks

WEST POINT, N.Y. — Joakim Noah isn’t afraid to mix it up with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers — and Carmelo Anthony thinks that’s exactly what the Knicks will need to compete with the NBA champions.

Coincidentally enough, the Knicks will open the regular season in Cleveland on Oct. 25 when the Cavs will be feted with their NBA championship rings.

“You ain’t got to worry about that with Joakim, I mean he gonna bring it,” Anthony said Wednesday after the first day of training camp at West Point, which was also Noah’s first practice with the team after he became the father of a baby girl on Tuesday.

“If you’re not on his team, you’re the enemy and I think with that mentality, that’s going to kind of trickle down to everyone else.”

Recruiting

Here’s a quick update on some college announcements:

**Dre Perry, a 6-6 small forward from Baltimore Polytechnic (MD), will announce Friday at 6 p.m. between Temple, Kansas State and Virginia Tech.

**Andre Rafus, the 6-9 small forward from Baltimore (MD) Lake Clifton, said he will “delay” his decision after initially planning to announce on Friday between Seton Hall, Kansas, TCU and Georgetown.

Oak Hill Academy, Recruiting

Billy Preston, the 6-foot-10 Class of 2017 forward from Oak Hill Academy (VA), has opted to open up his recruitment.

Preston had been focusing on Kansas, USC and Maryland, and he’s slated to take an official visit to Kansas this weekend for “Late Night in the Phog.”

“After talking with my family and starting my senior year at Oak Hill Academy, I have decided to open my recruitment up and explore what schools would best fit for me as a student-athlete,” Preston said. “I am looking forward to taking official visits and have no time table for making my final decision.”

Indiana head coach Tom Crean was in recently to see Preston, as was Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is expected on Monday.

Kentucky, Recruiting

Scout.com on Monday released its latest team recruiting rankings for the Class of 2017 and Duke, Kentucky and Kansas were nowhere to be found.

It’s a bit jarring for those of us following college basketball recruiting to see a Top 25 list without all three of those bluebloods anywhere to be seen.

After all, Kentucky and Duke have been 1-2 (in differing orders) in the Scout rankings for eight straight years, and Kansas is usually near the top, too.

Without them, Bruce Pearl and Auburn ranks No. 1 with their three-member class of Austin Wiley, Davion Mitchell and Chuma Okeke, followed by Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Western Kentucky, where Rick Stansbury has made national headlines with a class that includes Mitchell Robinson and Josh Anderson.

Kentucky, Recruiting, St. Patrick

This figures to be another busy week for Nick Richards and his teammates at St. Patrick’s High School in New Jersey.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim is due in on Tuesday to see the 6-foot-11 Richards, while Arizona coach Sean Miller is expected Wednesday.

“I’m considering every school,” Richards told me last week, referring to a group that includes Kentucky, Indiana, UConn, Syracuse and Arizona.

On Friday, Richards is poised to take his first official visit to Kentucky. Wildcats coach John Calipari has met with Richards twice in the last two weeks, including a home visit with Richards’ family.

Knicks, NBA

NEW YORK (AP) – NBA players aren’t just worried about their teams as they start a new season.

They’re concerned for their country.

The usual basketball clichés that dominate media days gave way to serious talk about social injustice and violence in communities, with players wanting to be involved in finding solutions but acknowledging they don’t know yet how.

“Some of the things that I’ve been addressing over this past summer, I think we’re still in the same state. I think it’s actually getting worse and it will continue to get worse,” Knicks All-Star Carmelo Anthony said Monday. “We still have to kind of keep the conversations going.”

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