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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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Friday / December 27.
  • With the holiday weekend almost upon us, I’m once again at the point where I’d like to clone myself and be in 3 or 4 different places at once….Unfortunately the cloning equipment isn’t up to speed for that quite yet. And besides, does the world really need 3 or 4 Adam Zagorias walking around? I don’t think so. But I digress…

    There are tremendous high school events going on this weekend in Jersey City, NJ (Dan Finn Classic), Springfield, Mass (Hoophall Classic), New York City (Big Apple Invitational) and Paterson, NJ (Freedom Fighters Challenge).

    I’ll probably hit the Big Apple on Saturday to see Lance Stephenson, then go to Seton Hall-UConn Sunday before winding up in Springfield on Monday for the four games to be televised on ESPNU.

    Derrick Favors, the No. 1 big man in the Class of 2009, made his college announcement Wednesday night on ESPNU.

    “I made my mind up and my decision is ….,” the 6-foot-9 Favors, an Atlanta native, said before putting on a black and gold Georgia Tech hat.

    “I want my friends and family to come see me play, for however long I’ll be in college,” he added. “I thought about it long and hard, I made the right decision.”

    Former Memphis guard Jeff Robinson has officially committed to Seton Hall and is enrolled in the university.

    Robinson, a sophomore, will enter the school on Monday after taking an official visit this past Monday and Tuesday. He must sit out a year as per NCAA transfer regulations and will be eligible in the second semester of the 2009-10 season.

    “It was closer to home,” said the 6-foot-5 Robinson, a native of Trenton, N.J. “I like the school, the coach and the players on the team. And I think it will be a real good fit for me.”

    Count No. 1 ranked Pittsburgh, Rutgers and St. John’s among those hot on the trail of Mike Taylor, the 6-foot-3 shooting guard out of Brooklyn Boys & Girls.

    When Taylor dropped 19 points, including five 3-pointers on Lance Stephenson and Lincoln in a 71-61 victory on Jan. 6, St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts was joined by Pitt associate head coach Tom Herrion and Rutgers assistant Craig Carter.

    “Mike Taylor can really shoot the ball,” said recruiting expert Tom Konchalski. “He’s a terrific 3-point shooter.”

    PISCATAWAY, N.J. — As good as Syracuse has been this year — and the Orange have been very good in compiling a 16–1 record, 4–0 in the Big East — the bad news for everyone else in the Big East is that they could get much better.

    “That’s the scary thing, I think we can get so much better,” Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn told me after his team beat Rutgers on Saturday night at the RAC. “We don’t have no ceiling on this team. We cut down on our turnovers, which we really needed to do. I think we can do a lot of things better and that’s the good thing about the team.”

    Tonight the No. 8 Orange travel to No. 13 Georgetown (11–3, 2–2) in a game that will be televised on ESPN2.

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