August 2011 | Page 17 of 21 | Zagsblog
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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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Sunday / December 22.
  • UPDATE: Arnold will take an unofficial visit to DePaul Aug. 25 or 26.

    Norvell Arnold is looking for a second chance.

    The 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Harlem put his legal troubles behind him Monday, and now hopes he can move forward and help a Division 1 program win games over the next two years.

    Right now, he is leaning toward attending Maryland Eastern Shore, where he will have two years of eligibility.

    “I’m trying to have a bounce-back year,” Arnold, a second team junior college All-American at Southeastern Iowa Community College in 2009-2010, told SNY.tv Monday by phone. “I’m willing to work hard and do whatever it takes for my team to win.”

    Torian Graham, the Rivals No. 5 shooting guard in the Class of 2012, has decommitted from N.C. State.

    “I just feel like I made a decision too fast. I don’t feel like I gave everyone a chance to recruit me,” Graham told PackPride.com

    “I’m still listing them. They are still at the top.”

    Damon Handon, who coaches with DC Assault, said he had no new list for Graham but imagined Maryland and others would try to get involved. Handon pointed out that Maryland assistant Dalonte Hill, now a Maryland assistant, has a strong relationship with the 6-foot-4 Graham.

    For the better part of a decade, St. Anthony and St. Benedict’s never played one another even though they are located eight miles apart in North Jersey and were both perennially at the top of the national rankings.

    But it wasn’t Bob or Dan Hurley who objected to the matchup of high school superpowers.

    “It was only at Mrs. Hurley’s behest we weren’t playing the game,” Bob, the Naismith Hall of Fame coach at St. Anthony, told SNY.tv by phone.

    Now that Chris Hurley’s son, Dan, is coaching at Wagner College, St. Anthony, ranked No. 6 in the Five Star Basketball Power Rankings, and St. Benedict’s will meet for the first time in more than a decade when they face off in the New Year’s Jump Off Jan. 1 at Hackensack High School (7:30 p.m.).

    Uncommitted senior guard Archie Goodwin scored a game-high 23 points Sunday night to lead the USA Midwest team over Canada, 99-94, in the Nike Global Challenge in Hillsboro, Ore.

    Canada led 57-55 at the half, but Team Midwest outscored them 44-37 in the second half.

    “It feels great to win the Global Challenge, especially after everyone was doubting us,” Goodwin, who was named to the USA All-Tournament team, said by text. “We just stuck to what our coach [Gary DeCesare] told us to do and we were successful.”

    All you need to now about Jabari Parker is that he’s so humble he doesn’t even think he’s the best player in the Class of 2013.

    Instead, he defers to big men Julius Randle and Nerlens Noel.

    “You can put those two probably at the top,” the 6-foot-8, 220-pound Parker said by phone from the Nike Global Challenge in Hillsboro, Ore.

    “Both of them, either 1 or 2. Me, I probably got a lot of work to do. I’m probably not there yet. But as time [goes on], I’ll get better.”

    Archie Goodwin is busy playing at the Nike Global Challenge in Hillsboro, Ore., this weekend.

    The 6-foot-5 shooting guard dropped game-high 23 points to lead Team USA Midwest to a 121-101 victory over USA West in the semifinals on Saturday. USA Midwest will meet Team Canada in Sunday’s 8 p.m. championship.

    But when Goodwin returns home to Little Rock, Ark., he plans to get to work cutting his college list.

    “I have 10 right now, but within the next week or two I’ll have my five to where I’ll take my visits,” he said by phone.

    Goodwin’s list “in no particular order ” currently includes Arkansas, Baylor, Kentucky, Kansas, Memphis, Texas, UConn, Georgetown, Tennessee and Missouri.

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