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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.
  • PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Three years ago, Rutgers believed it was launching a new era in men’s basketball when McDonald’s All-American Mike Rosario made his much-hyped debut at the Rutgers Athletic Center.

    Coming off a mythical national championship at St. Anthony under Bob Hurley, Rosario and St. Benedict’s Prep big man Greg Echenique were supposed to be the building blocks of the future for then-coach Fred Hill.

    But within two years, Hill was fired and all four of the freshmen in that heralded recruiting class had transferred.

    Pittsburgh has officially signed 7-footer Steven Adams, which is bad news for the Big East.

    And maybe the ACC.

    “We are extremely excited about Steven and James,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said, referring also to DeMatha Catholic guard James Robinson. “Both are good players from winning backgrounds and both have outstanding work ethic.”

    Adams is a 7-foot, 240-pound center from New Zealand who has been rated as a consensus national top-10 recruit. This summer he led the adidas Nations Tournament in both scoring (22 ppg.) and rebounding (16.8 rpg.). 

    Kentucky players Stacey Poole and Terrence Jones were involved in a car accident at about 2:30 a.m. Friday, but the specifics of the aftermath of the crash remain unclear.

    Lex18, the NBC affiliate in Lexington, reports that police initially said Poole was the only passenger in an SUV driven by Larry Warren, a Kentucky student and Jones’ former high school teammate at Portland (Ore.) Jefferson.

    According to police, a car driven by an alleged drunk driver crossed into the wrong lane of East High Street near the Euclid Avenue intersection and crashed into that SUV, where it was pushed into a parked car.

    “They hit me on the passenger side, Terrence Jones was sitting in the front seat and Stacey was sitting in the backseat on the same side,” Warren told NationofBlue.com.

    “We got out of the car and I checked on Terrence and Stacey and a pedestrian checked on the other driver.”

    SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — During his second season as the head coach at Iona College, Kevin Willard made his initial 30-hour round trip to the Canarias Basketball Academy in the Canary Islands off the Northwest coast of Africa.

    “I flew over there during the April period and met with [head coach] Rob [Orellana] and watched what they did and was really taken back at how great of a program he ran,” Willard recalled.

    “I thought I was going over there and just going to see a bunch of guys running around. And they worked out at 6:30 in the morning, they worked out at 2 o’clock in the afternoon and they worked out at 8:45 at night. Every day.”

    PISCATAWAY, N.J. — For the second time in the last two seasons, Derrick Randall must fill in for Kadeem Jack.

    A year ago, the two were teammates at South Kent (Conn.) before the 6-foot-10 Jack left in the middle of the season and ultimately enrolled at Rutgers in January.

    Now, with Jack out 3-4 months with a broken foot, the 6-9, 235-pound Randall will again be asked to step up in Jack’s absence.

    “Yes, this is going to be the second time filling in for Kadeem again so I just gotta get more conditioned and be prepared for this Big East Conference because everybody in this Big East Conference is tough,” Randall told SNY.tv.

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