May 2018 | 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.

By ADAM ZAGORIA

That didn’t take long.

Transferring Auburn guard Mustapha Heron committed to St. John’s during his official visit on Thursday.

“The location is perfect for when I need to get home and see my mom and my goal is to come in and contribute to the team in any way possible,” Heron told ZAGSBLOG.

Asked how good the team can be, he added: “We have potential to be a Top 10 team.”

Heron was tentatively slated to visit Boston College and Fairfield over the weekend, but those visits won’t happen now. Instead, he will enroll in classes at St. John’s on Monday.

Heron withdrew his name from the NBA Draft on Tuesday with the intentions of transferring closer to home.

The 6-foot-5 Waterbury, Conn., native was looking to transfer to a school closer to his ailing mother who suffered a massive concussion, his father told ZAGSBLOG on Tuesday. He will apply for a hardship waiver to be immediately eligible for the 2018-19 season at St. John’s.

By ADAM ZAGORIA

When Dan Hurley took the UConn job in March, he received congratulatory text messages from hundreds of people, but only two of them happen to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Hurley coached both J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson during his nine-year tenure at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark (2001-10), and both NBA players reached out to congratulate Hurley on his latest career move, telling him it was “unbelievable.”

“When we have big things going on, playing in the NCAA Tournament [at Rhode Island] or when I got the job at UConn, I hear from those guys,” Hurley told me Wednesday by phone.

The Cavaliers, of course, open Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night at the defending champion Golden State Warriors. It is the fourth straight season these two teams have met in the Finals. Hurley will be tuned in and especially keen to watch his two former pupils.

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