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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.
  • Memphis head coach John Calipari and assistant Orlando Antigua spent Sunday night visiting with Dominic Cheek and his family in their Jersey City home.

    Kansas head coach Bill Self and assistant Joe Dooley come in Monday for an in-home visit with the St. Anthony senior.

    Cheek previously visited with Seton Hall head coach Bobby Gonzalez and assistant Scott Adubato last week.

    Villanova (Sept. 23) will follow for the 6-foot-5 Cheek, the No. 6 shooting guard in the Class of 2009 according to Rivals.

    Karon Abraham, a 5-foot-9, 150-pound combo guard from Paterson (NJ) Eastside High, has verbally committed to Robert Morris after taking an official visit there this weekend.

    “I verballed today,” Abraham, who averaged 18.5 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds last season, said by phone. “They were the ones who showed the most interest. They really wanted me there, they said I was their first recruit as a guard. They said if I verbal they would stop recruiting all other guards and they would focus on big men after me. They were ready to have me up their next year and lead their team.”

    Abraham, who joins 6-5, 215-pound forward James Stukes from Rice in Robert Morris’ recruiting class, also considered East Tennessee State and Long Island University. Now he can just focus on his senior season at Eastside, which last year lost to Paterson Catholic in the Passaic County title game and won the North 1, Group 4 sectional title.

    For the first time since the 2005 state championship game, Ramsey (NJ) Don Bosco Prep lost a football game.

    The Ironmen, No. 3 in the RivalsHigh Top 100, fell at No. 24 St. Xavier of Ohio, 17-10, before 5,500 fans Saturday afternoon. The Ironmen had a 24-game winning streak snapped in the RivalsHigh Game of the Week.

    On a fourth down late from the St. Xavier 20 in the final quarer, Don Bosco senior quarterback Brett Knief launched a pass down the middle of the field, but Justinian Mason of St. Xavier deflected the ball away from Ryan Cobb.

    “We had the ball on their 5 going in and we got a penalty that pushed us back to the 20 and we didn’t get it in,” Bosco offensive coordinator Nunzio Campanile said by phone. “We gave them the ball back with 1:10.”

    The defending Ohio Division I state champs improved to 3-1 on the season, while Bosco dropped to 0-1. It was their first lost since falling to St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City in the 2005 Non-Public Group 4 state game.

    Two of the biggest names in New York hoops circles faced off on Saturday at iS8 when Lance Stephenson’s Juice All-Stars met Tobias Harris and the Unique All-Stars.

    Despite showing up with five minutes remaining in the first quarter, Stephenson hit the game-winning basket and finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds in a 66-64 Juice victory. Harris, coming off an unofficial visit to Rutgers for Thursday’s football with North Carolina, struggled to score but ended with 18 points and 13 boards.

    The Unique All-Stars easily could have won the game. They led 14 -13 at the end of the first quarter, 30-28 at the break and 54-44 at the end of three. It was a tie score with 10 seconds remaining when Juice called a timeout.

    Kevin Parrom committed to Xavier Saturday, choosing that school over St. John’s.

    “I committed to Xavier today,” the 6-foot-6, 195-pound Parrom, a senior shooting guard/small forward at South Kent (Conn.), said Saturday by phone from Xavier where he is on an official visit with Chris Braswell. “I like the coaching staff and the players. They’re going to the (NCAA) tournament every year. They just win, that’s what I like.”

    Asked what he could contribute to Sean Miller’s club, Parrom said: “I think I can contribute energy to the team. I’m a scorer and I can bring more fire and versatility to the team.”

    Tobias Harris attended the North Carolina-Rutgers football game Thursday night, and while the Scarlet Knights were blown out 44-12 on ESPN, Harris continues to think highly of the basketball team.

    “Tobias had a great time at the Rutgers football game even though the outcome was lopsided,” Torrel Harris, Tobias’ dad, wrote in an email. “He had a great meeting with head coach Fred Hill and assistant Craig Carter reviewing game tape and showing Tobias how his style of play fits their system. Tobias came away very impressed with the vision that Coach Hill has set for the Rutgers’ men’s program and how Tobias would be a very important player for his program. Tobias has great respect for Coach Hill.”

    Torrel said Rutgers was the first to offer Tobias a ship, when he was 13.

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