Ledo Visits UConn; Kentucky, Louisville Up Next
Ricardo Ledo tripped to UConn Friday and
Ricardo Ledo tripped to UConn Friday and
Rick Pitino and John Calipari already share a rivalry within the Bluegrass State.
Could they be expanding their rivalry to Latin American basketball?
Multiple reports indicate Pitino, the Louisville coach, is on the verge of accepting a job as Puerto Rico’s next national coach, while a blog report has Calipari, the Kentucky coach, considering coaching the Dominican Republic.
Pitino will reportedly meet Sunday in Miami with Carlos Arroyo of the Miami Heat and J.J. Berea of the Dallas Mavericks before their teams play Monday night. They are the only two Puerto Rican players in the NBA.
Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick, Oak Hill (Va.) Academy and Mount Vernon all advanced to the semifinals of prestigious holiday tournaments Saturday.
St. Patrick, ranked No. 11 by USA Today, beat Chicago Whitney Young, 92-68, in the quarterfinals of the City of Palms Classic behind 37 points from Western Kentucky signee Derrick Gordon.
St. Pat’s on Tuesday will face the winner of Monday’s game between Mater Dei (Calif.) and Christ School (N.C.).
Gordon’s made 12 of 20 shots, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range, to go with three steals.
By Alex Kline
The 2010-11 high school basketball season has been under way for a few weeks now, but hoops in the state of New Jersey didn’t begin until Friday.
The St. Anthony Friars kicked off their season with a 93-34 rout of Emily Fisher Charter of Trenton. Playing his first game for the Friars after spending three years at Paterson Catholic, Rutgers-bound point guard Myles Mack poured in 26 points, including the 1000th of his career.
Junior Kyle Anderson, the top point guard in the Class of 2012, added 11 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four blocks. Lucious Jones added 17 points and Jerome Frink 11.
NEW YORK — Dream Week for the Knicks began with a narrow victory over Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets and ended with a blowout loss to LeBron James and the Heat.
What it revealed more than anything is that the Knicks need ‘Melo if they are ever to compete in the East with LeBron and Company and a Boston team featuring four future Hall of Famers.
In his first New York appearance since spurning the Knicks to take his talents to South Beach, King James quieted a frenzied Madison Square Garden crowd by taking over in the third quarter en route to a 32-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist performance in a 113-91 victory.
“There are certain buildings in this league that you just thrive on and you’re excited about,” said James, who’s averaged 30.5 points in 12 Garden appearances, second all-time to Michael Jordan’s 31.8 average in 31 Garden tilts.
Perry Ellis, the No. 6 power forward
NEW YORK — Jio Fontan and Tyshawn Taylor have been talking smack on the phone and in text messages for several weeks now.
With Fontan set to make his debut Saturday for Southern Cal (6-4) against Taylor and No. 3 Kansas (9-0) at Allen Field House (noon, ESPN), the chatter is running high between the two old friends and former St. Anthony teammates.
“I told him that’s a terrible place for him to come back,” cracked Taylor, Kansas’ junior point guard from Hoboken, N.J.
Said Fontan: “I’ve been calling him telling him how we’re going to beat them and he’s been calling me telling me how they’re going to blow us out.”
