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.
UNION, N.J. — Doron Lamb’s college list seems to be expanding.
And that is good news for the schools still in the mix for the 6-foot-4 Oak Hill Academy senior guard.
The newly-minted McDonald’s All-American from Queens, N.Y. scored 18 points, including the game-winning foul shot with 9.4 seconds left, to lift the Warriors to a dramatic 79-78 victory over Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick in an ESPNU game at Kean College’s Harwood Arena.
“We’ve been thinking about this game for like two weeks now because it was on ESPNU, so we just had to come out here and play ‘D’ and win off of the offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds. We lost that today but we finished out strong at the end. I made clutch foul shots,” Lamb said.
He broke a 78-all tie with 1-of-2 foul shots for the final points of the game.
St. Patrick junior guard Derrick Gordon missed two free throws with .4 seconds left.
That capped a traumatic day for St. Patrick, winner of three of the last four New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles.
Earlier in the day, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association banned St. Patrick from the state tournament and suspended head coach Kevin Boyle three games for holding out-of-season workouts last October.
Lamb was named a co-MVP in front of his parents and friends, and then said his college list now consists of five schools.
“I got Kansas, Arizona, Kentucky, UConn and West Virginia right now,” Lamb said.
Lamb had recently listed only the four schools besides UConn, but confirmed the Huskies were now in the mix.
UConn also has a verbal commitment (but no signature) from Lamb’s 6-8 teammate Roscoe Smith. who scored 14 of his 18 in the second half. UConn assistant Pat Sellers was at the game, one day ahead of head coach Jim Calhoun’s return from medical leave to coach against Cincinnati. UConn has also offered a scholarship to 6-6 St. Benedict’s Prep senior guard Mike Poole, who scored 12 points in an 82-38 rout eof Lakewood.
A New York native, the Big East would seem to make sense for Lamb. If he chose either West Virginia or UConn, his family could watch him play numerous times each year in the New York area.
Still, he’s open to all five schools.
“It doesn’t really matter if it’s close to home. I just want to go somewhere that it fits me and fits my family and it’s the best decision for me. That’s where I’ll go,” Lamb said.
Lamb visited West Virginia last month when Oak Hill played in the state.
“It was a good visit. I talked to Bob [Huggins], he told me a lot about how I’d fit in the offense next year and that it will be a great look for me next year. So I have to sit down, wait until spring break and talk to my family because I don’t really talk to them that much at Oak Hill. So I’ll wait…and make a decision in April,” he said.
Lamb also visited Arizona in January, just before Lake Baltimore (Md.) guard Josh Selby hit the desert.
“We talk about [playing together] sometimes but Arizona only has one scholarship left so it’s gotta be one of us that goes there,” Lamb said.
Lamb played for the New York Gauchos, the same AAU program that produced Arizona assistant Book Richardson andArizona freshman guard Lamont “Momo” Jones. A fellow New Yorker, Jones played alongside Lamb last year at Oak Hill.
“I went out there, had a good time with Coach Book, coach of the Gauchos, and Momo played with me last year and Kevin Parrom played AAU basketball with me. I know a couple of the players on the team, but I had a great visit out there. And the weather’s nice. And the coaching staff. Sean Miller, he knows how to coach. He just told me that I’ll fit into the system next year and I’ll play a lot as a freshman. He said if you play a lot as a freshman, you could do a lot of things and you maybe can go pro early,” Lamb said.
Lamb is one of four elite uncommitted 2010 guards, along with Selby, Brandon Knight and Cory Joseph.
Kansas, Kentucky, Arizona and UConn are in the mix for at least one of those players, but Lamb says he won’t be influenced by their decisions.
“No, I’m not even going to worry about them right now. I’m just worried about where I’m going and where it fits me the best,” he said.
“Everything’s open right now.”
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
UNION, N.J. — Doron Lamb’s college list seems to be expanding.
And that is good news for the schools still in the mix for the 6-foot-4 Oak Hill Academy senior guard.
The newly-minted McDonald’s All-American from Queens, N.Y. scored 18 points, including the game-winning foul shot with 9.4 seconds left, to lift the Warriors to a dramatic 79-78 victory over Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick in an ESPNU game at Kean College’s Harwood Arena.
“We’ve been thinking about this game for like two weeks now because it was on ESPNU, so we just had to come out here and play ‘D’ and win off of the offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds. We lost that today but we finished out strong at the end. I made clutch foul shots,” Lamb said.
He broke a 78-all tie with 1-of-2 foul shots for the final points of the game.
St. Patrick junior guard Derrick Gordon missed two free throws with .4 seconds left.
That capped a traumatic day for St. Patrick, winner of three of the last four New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles.
Earlier in the day, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association banned St. Patrick from the state tournament and suspended head coach Kevin Boyle three games for holding out-of-season workouts last October.
Lamb was named a co-MVP in front of his parents and friends, and then said his college list now consists of five schools.
“I got Kansas, Arizona, Kentucky, UConn and West Virginia right now,” Lamb said.
Lamb had recently listed only the four schools besides UConn, but confirmed the Huskies were now in the mix.
UConn also has a verbal commitment (but no signature) from Lamb’s 6-8 teammate Roscoe Smith. who scored 14 of his 18 in the second half. UConn assistant Pat Sellers was at the game, one day ahead of head coach Jim Calhoun’s return from medical leave to coach against Cincinnati. UConn has also offered a scholarship to 6-6 St. Benedict’s Prep senior guard Mike Poole, who scored 12 points in an 82-38 rout eof Lakewood.
A New York native, the Big East would seem to make sense for Lamb. If he chose either West Virginia or UConn, his family could watch him play numerous times each year in the New York area.
Still, he’s open to all five schools.
“It doesn’t really matter if it’s close to home. I just want to go somewhere that it fits me and fits my family and it’s the best decision for me. That’s where I’ll go,” Lamb said.
Lamb visited West Virginia last month when Oak Hill played in the state.
“It was a good visit. I talked to Bob [Huggins], he told me a lot about how I’d fit in the offense next year and that it will be a great look for me next year. So I have to sit down, wait until spring break and talk to my family because I don’t really talk to them that much at Oak Hill. So I’ll wait…and make a decision in April,” he said.
Lamb also visited Arizona in January, just before Lake Baltimore (Md.) guard Josh Selby hit the desert.
“We talk about [playing together] sometimes but Arizona only has one scholarship left so it’s gotta be one of us that goes there,” Lamb said.
Lamb played for the New York Gauchos, the same AAU program that produced Arizona assistant Book Richardson and Arizona freshman guard Lamont “Momo” Jones. A fellow New Yorker, Jones played alongside Lamb last year at Oak Hill.
“I went out there, had a good time with Coach Book, coach of the Gauchos, and Momo played with me last year and Kevin Parrom played AAU basketball with me. I know a couple of the players on the team, but I had a great visit out there. And the weather’s nice. And the coaching staff. Sean Miller, he knows how to coach. He just told me that I’ll fit into the system next year and I’ll play a lot as a freshman. He said if you play a lot as a freshman, you could do a lot of things and you maybe can go pro early,” Lamb said.
Lamb is one of four elite uncommitted 2010 guards, along with Selby, Brandon Knight and Cory Joseph.
Kansas, Kentucky, Arizona and UConn are in the mix for at least one of those players, but Lamb says he won’t be influenced by their decisions.
“No, I’m not even going to worry about them right now. I’m just worried about where I’m going and where it fits me the best,” he said.
“Everything’s open right now.”
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.
