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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 / December 21.
  • As if we needed any more confirmation that Kyrie Irving’s top two schools are Indiana and Duke, here comes Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle confirming that to me today in a phone call.

    Irving has already said he will visit both schools officially this fall, and he has yet to name any other planned officials.

    “I would not be surprised at all if he went to Indiana,” said Boyle, whose team should be ranked among the top two or three in the nation this season. “There’s no question that Indiana has been there all along and has done a great job recruiting him. I think they have an outstanding chance of getting him.

    Villanova guard Reggie Redding has been suspended for the fall semester.

    Redding, a 6-foot-5 senior, was arrested on campus earlier this month and charged with possession of a “small amount” of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to Radnor (Pa.) Police.

    Redding can practice with the Wildcats but cannot play in any games until after the fall semester ends Dec. 18, meaning he will miss the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

    Redding faces a hearing on the charges on Thursday, according to the Delaware County Times.

    “I believe the process was respectful and fair to Reggie. He is a quality person, who, with the support of his great family, met this head on and has learned a valuable lesson from this experience,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said in a statement.

    Josh Selby visited UConn on Thursday and is considering the Huskies along with a number of other schools.

    “I talked to his mom yesterday [Thursday],” said Herman Harried, head coach of Baltimore (Md.) Lake Clifton. “They say everything went very well.

    “They are being considered as one of his top schools.”

    Selby, the No. 2 point guard in the Class of 2010,  decommitted from Tennessee and is still considering other schools, including Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Syracuse and Texas, Harried said.

    “He’s still going to look at other schools,” he said. “They’re gonna get back home and sit down and plan some other visits.”

    Brian Bennett, the Big East football blogger for ESPN.com, has put out his preseason All-Big East team. Pittsburgh leads the way with six picks and Rutgers has four, including OT Anthony Davis. Davis (pictured courtesy Scarletknights.com) is currently practicing with the second team because he failed to make weight.

    Offense

    QB Tony Pike, Cincinnati
    RB Noel Devine, West Virginia
    RB Victor Anderson, Louisville
    WR Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati
    WR Jonathan Baldwin, Pittsburgh
    OT: Anthony Davis, Rutgers
    OG: John Malecki, Pittsburgh
    C: Ryan Blaszczyk Rutgers
    OG: Art Forst, Rutgers
    OT: Jason Pinkston, Pittsburgh
    TE: Nate Byham, Pittsburgh



    The Philadelphia Eagles made a bold and controversial move Thursday by announcing the signing of disgraced former Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick to a one-year deal.

    Vick will make $1.6 million this year, with a club option for $5.2 million next season.

    Vick was convicted in 2007 of conspiracy and running a dogfighting operation. He served 18 months of a 23-month sentence in federal prison and was suspended indefinitely by the NFL.

    “I was wrong, man,” Vick told James Brown of “60 Minutes” in an interview to air Sunday. “I feel, you know, some tremendous hurt behind what happened. And, you know, I should have took the initiative to stop it all. . . . I didn’t. I didn’t step up. I wasn’t a leader.”

    The Eagles will announce the signing at a news conference on Friday. Tony Dungy, who has been advising Vick, will also be on hand.

    The team is already taking heat from PETA officials.

    Great slice of life interview here with guards Kyrie Irving and Josh Selby done by Daniel Poneman of Illinoishsbball.com.

    They grabbed the guys before they won the gold medal over Canada at the recent Nike Global Challenge.

    “I do have aspirations of playing on the USA team in the future when I get older so this where I get started,” said Irving, who was named MVP of the event. “This experience, I  couldn’t do it any differently, especially playing with him [Selby] and other great players on our team.”

    Indiana and St. John’s became the latest high-major schools to offer 6-8, 184-pound junior forward Angel Nunez of Harlem.

    Nunez now holds offers from those two schools, as well as UConn, Louisville, Arizona, Rutgers and Arkansas.

    Nunez and his mentor, Eric Martinez, visited St. John’s Tuesday and said they had a great time.

    “I didn’t think St. John’s would look like that,” said Nunez, who is home for a few weeks before returning to the Winchendon (Mass.) School.

    “I had never been there before. It was kind of nice. I like St. John’s.”

    Indiana also offered Nunez through assistant Roshown McLeod, the former St. Anthony standout.

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