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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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Wednesday / December 25.
  • NEW YORKDominic Cheek is still narrowing his college list, but he knows a couple of schools he wants to visit: Indiana and Memphis

    “I’m definitely going to visit Indiana,” the 6-foot-5 Cheek, a rising senior at St. Anthony in Jersey City, said during a community service event at Grant’s Tomb in Manhattan. “I’m definitely going to try to really look into that school and see how everything is.”

    Indiana head coach Tom Crean recruited Cheek when he was at Marquette, and Crean also just hired former St. Anthony standout Roshown McLeod.

    NEW YORK – ESPN may lose its biggest attraction for Friday night’s nationally televised Boost Mobile Elite 24 event at Harlem’s Rucker Park.

    New York’s own Lance Stephenson of Brooklyn Lincoln High School may be forced to miss the game because of a groin injury suffered recently.

    “I hurt it at the Unlimited tournament at West 4th (St.). I’m going to try (and play). Right now it’s a no, but hopefully I’ll be ready,” said the 6-foot-5 Stephenson, who sat out Thursday’s practice session and scrimmage at Sports Club LA in Manhattan.

    Stephenson is one of 24 players slated to compete in the game that will be broadcast live on ESPNU.

    Dominic Cheek told the Indiana Scout site that he plans to visit Indiana.

    I hope to have more from Cheek after the Boost Mobile Elite 24 practice tomorrow, but Cheek’s connection to Indiana is now twofold. Head coach Tom Crean, who just received a 10-year extension worth more than $20 million, began recruiting the 6-foot-5 Cheek when he was at Marquette.

    Crean also just hired former St. Anthony standout Roshown McLeod, who played for Bob Hurley at St. Anthony and then competed at Duke and St. John’s before spending four years in the NBA. Cheek told the site that if he opted to go to Indiana, he knows that McLeod would have his back.

    This much is clear after today’s Rutgers football scrimmage.

    The Scarlet Knights have a lot of work to do on their ground game.

    “Obviously, we need to run the football better,” senior QB Mike Teel said.

    “I didn’t think we did as good as we’d like to do,” added sophomore RB Kordell Young of West Deptford, N.J.,  who managed 8 yards on 9 carries. “There were a lot of opportunities missed out there, and we just definitely need to get better. We just have to break one more tackle, make one more block.”

    “I don’t know if we missed blocks or if we defended well early on,” said head coach Greg Schiano, whose team opens the season Sept. 1 at home againt Fresno State on ESPN. “We need to run the football better, but let me watch (the tape) and see why.”

    Some quick hits from the world of college hoops…

    **The NCAA has rejected Pitt forward Mike Cook’s request for an extra year of eligibility, according to ESPN.com.

    The school appealed to the NCAA after Cook’s senior season ended with a knee injury. Cook played in 11 games before the injury Dec. 20 against Duke. But Cook ended up playing in 34 percent of his team’s games, and NCAA rules permit an extra year only if you have played in 30 percent or fewer of your team’s games.

    “Situations like this are hard to take when you know how dedicated Mike’s life has been to playing basketball,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said in a statement, noting that Pitt was 40-8 with Cook as a starter.

    Omari Lawrence is headed to St. John’s.

    The 6-foot-4 senior shooting guard out of New York committed during a visit on Wednesday. He cannot sign until the NCAA early signing period in November.

    “Yes, I’m leaving the campus right now,” Lawrence, a Bronx native, said Wednesday by phone. “I like the school. It’s close to home. It’s a good Big East school for me to develop and get to the next level.”

    With the decision behind him, Lawrence can now focus on his senior season at South Kent (Conn.), to which he transferred after leaving St. Raymond’s in the Bronx where he averaged 18.2 points last season.

    “I’m really excited that I got this over with and I can finish up my senior year strong,” he said.

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