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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 / November 22.
  • LeBron James gave the Oakland Soldiers a shout out and then watched the loaded AAU team win the Fab 48 tournament in Las Vegas.

    “It felt awesome. He gave us a salute,” Soldiers forward Kyle Wiltjer of Portland, Ore., who scored 16 points in the win, said by text.

    James is apparently spending the weekend in Vegas partying with Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul.

    With team sponsor Drew Gooden also watching, the Soldiers routed the Iowa Barnstormers, 86-66, behind a game-high 19 points from senior wing Jabari Brown of Oakland, Calif.

    “It feels good to win Vegas because we really expected to win Peach [Jam] so this was a major bounce back for our squad,” Brown wrote in a text. The Soldiers fell in the quarters at Peach Jam.

    Michael Gilchrist will not play in Monday’s nationally televised game against Austin Rivers‘ team on ESPNU.

    “Absolutely not,” his mother, Cindy Richardson, said Sunday.

    Gilchrist played his last AAU event this summer at the Peach Jam.

    “Given the fact that he won’t have a summer next year, we thought it would be good if he just vacations for five weeks,” Richardson said.

    Gilchrist’s Team Final is slated to go head-to-head with Rivers’ Each 1 Teach 1 team Monday at 7 p.m. in the Super Showcase in Orlando.

    Maurice Harkless is piling up scholarship offers at an astonishing pace.

    The 6-foot-6 Queens, N.Y. native dropped 23 points on the Danny Granger Hurricanes Saturday morning and is averaging 22 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks per game while leading the New York Panthers into the Sweet 16 of the Las Vegas Fab 48.

    “He’s blowing up,” Panthers director Gary Charles said by phone. “Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Louisville, everybody wants to get him.”

    Nate Blue, Harkless’ mentor, said he believed Kansas was about to offer Harkless, who recently decommitted from UConn but is still considering the Huskies.

    **UPDATED**

    West Virginia coach Bob Huggins suffered seven fractured ribs Friday after falling accidentally in his hotel room in Las Vegas.

    Multiple sources said Huggins would spend Saturday night at  Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center for observation even though a statement from West Virginia AD Oliver Luck issued at 10 a.m. said Huggins would be released Saturday.

    “I spoke with Associate Head Coach Larry Harrison this [Saturday] morning who was with coach Huggins recruiting in Las Vegas,” Luck said. “Coach Huggins did fall in his hotel room Friday and broke four ribs. He was taken to a Las Vegas hospital and was held overnight for observation. He is expected to be released later today, and we expect him to make a complete recovery.”

    Huggins, 56, reportedly fell accidentally on a coffee table, but did not suffer a heart attack. Huggins did suffer a massive heart attack in September 2002.

    Roy Williams spent a good deal of time at the Peach Jam last week watching 6-foot-10 Chicago Perspectives forward Anthony Davis, but the big man is not returning the love.

    “It looks like North Carolina is not going to be in the recruiting process with us,” Anthony Davis Sr. said Friday by phone from the Hoop City Classic in Kansas City.

    “Anthony said he doesn’t think it’s going to be a good fit for him and we support whatever decision he makes.”

    Anthony Jr. huddled with his father Thursday night to make the decision.

    “It was just a decision we made last night,” Anthony Sr. said.

    He is still considering three schools — Kentucky, Syracuse and Ohio State.

    “They’re all equal,” Anthony Sr. said.

    NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — The game of point guard musical chairs in the Garden State is moving at a dizzying pace.

    Tyrone Johnson’s decision to leave Plainfield for Montrose Christian was just the latest in a flurry of high-profile point guards opting to either move from one New Jersey school to another or, in Johnson’s case, leave the state altogether.

    Consider that:

    **In May, St. Benedict’s point guard Myck Kabongo announced he was leaving for Findlay Prep, the two-time National High School Invitational champ.

    **After it was announced that Paterson Catholic would close its doors, highly touted floor generals Kyle Anderson (a rising junior)and Myles Mack (rising senior) both opted to play for Hall of Famer Bob Hurley at St. Anthony.

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