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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

To honor Nike founder Phil Knight, the company created the PK80, a 16-team, early-season men’s college basketball tournament that will take place over Thanksgiving week in 2017 from Portland, Ore.

One of the largest regular-season tournaments in college basketball history, sporting a field featuring some of the top schools in the nation, will be played Nov. 23-26 from the Rose Quarter’s Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Participating schools include Arkansas, Butler, Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Georgetown, Gonzaga, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Portland, Portland State, Stanford and Texas.

Articles, Minnesota

HILLSIDE, N.J. — Just about everything that could go wrong for Richard Pitino and his Minnesota team did go wrong last season.

On the court, the Gophers went 8-23 overall, 2-16 in the Big Ten Conference. They didn’t win a league game until late February when they knocked off then-No. 6 Maryland and Rutgers back-to-back. Minnesota would go on to drop its final four games, including one at Rutgers on March 5 that marked the Scarlet Knights’ lone Big Ten win of the season.

Off the court, Pitino on March 1 had to suspend three players — Kevin Dorsey, Nate Mason and Dupree McBrayer — after they released a sex tape on social media.

A few days later, the Gophers lost senior captain Joey King to a broken foot.

Kentucky

ESPNU will once again televise Kentucky’s NBA Combine, which is set for Oct. 9 from 7-9 p.m.

The Wildcats will go through various agility and shooting drills in addition to 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 scrimmaging.

All 30 NBA teams are expected to attend as they have in previous years.

Doris Burke, Seth Greenberg and Fran Fraschilla will be on hand to call the action for ESPNU, along with Andy Katz, who will handle sideline reports.

Articles, Minnesota, St. Patrick

HILLSIDE, N.J. — One day after a home visit with Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino and assistant Kimani Young, St. Patrick’s senior guard Jamir Harris verbally committed to the Big Ten program.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Harris, who runs with the NJ Playaz AAU program on the Nike EYBL circuit, is a natural shooter who will join St. Raymond’s point guard Isaiah Washington in giving Minnesota a talented and tough backcourt going forward.

“I know Isaiah, he’s a real cool dude,” Harris told me recently. “I’m happy for him with his decision.”

Stanford, Fordham, USC, Seton Hall, Hofstra, Old Dominion and Princeton were among the other schools recruiting Harris, with Stanford in to see him on Tuesday during an open gym. He was supposed to take an official visit to the Pac-12 school next month, but Minnesota closed the deal.

“With his shot-making ability and great work ethic, Jamir will be a great asset and addition to the Minnesota program and the Big Ten,” Playaz coach Jamal Slappy said. “We couldn’t be more proud of his accomplishment.”

Western Kentucky

Rick Stansbury has it rolling.

The Western Kentucky coach continued to add to his recruiting riches on Tuesday by adding Josh Anderson, a 6-foot-4, 175-pound guard from Baton Rouge (La.) Madison Prep Academy.

Anderson, who also considered N.C. State, is ranked by 247Sports Composite as the No. 52 prospect overall in his class and the No. 13 shooting guard prospect in his class. He averaged 18.1 points, 5.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game as a junior at Madison Prep.

Kentucky, Recruiting

HILLSIDE, N.J. — Kentucky head coach John Calipari is meeting with some of his prime Class of 2017 targets for a second time.

Calipari and assistant Tony Barbee met Tuesday with the 6-foot-6 Hamidou Diallo at Putnam Science Academy (CT) and will meet again on Thursday with St. Patrick’s (N.J.) big man Nick Richards.

Calipari previously visited with Diallo on Sept. 12, and Richards on Sept. 15.

“We want you and you would be a great fit,” was Calipari’s message to Diallo according to Putnam coach Tom Espinosa.

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