November 2011 | Page 22 of 23 | 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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Monday / December 23.
  • Iona is so loaded with guards that if they played in the Big East, they would have one of the top five backcourts in the league, one Big East coach told SNY.tv.

    Picked to win the MAAC, Tim Cluess’ squad will start the 6-foot-1 Scott Machado and 6-foot Arizona transfer Lamont “Momo” Jones in the backcourt.

    “I think our backcourt is what really puts us up in the elite area of our league,” Cluess said on a conference call promoting the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, where the Gaels will open Nov. 17 against Purdue (1 p.m. ESPNU).

    UConn freshman guard Ryan Boatright is being held out of competition, including tonight’s preseason exhibition against American International College, while the school and the NCAA investigate his eligibility, the Associated Press reported.

    Boatright will continue to practice with the team and will be allowed to sit on the bench during games, but will not dress or play until the investigation is complete.

    UConn has no comment on the matter.

    Terry Henderson is one of three West Virginia basketball recruits who can’t be certain what league he’ll be playing in next season.

    “He was more enticed by the West Virginia program as it were, and if they move to the Big 12 he’ll be fine,” Ken Adrian, Henderson’s coach at Raleigh (N.C.) Neuse Baptist Christian School, told SNY.tv. “I mean he’ll be playing high level whatever league they’re in.”

    West Virginia is suing the Big East so it can leave immediately and join the Big 12 in 2012, but Big East Commissioner John Marinatto says the suit is “wholly without merit” and he intends to hold West Virginia — along with Syracuse and Pittsburgh (ACC)– in the Big East until June 30, 2014.

    With no word yet on the statuses of Alex Len or Pe’Shon Howard, Maryland must soldier on with just seven scholarship players.

    “We’re down to seven scholarship players,” Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said Tuesday on a conference call to promote the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, in which the Terps open with Alabama Nov. 17.

    “We’ll have to see.  We’ll have to implement a couple walk‑ons into our rotation.  This is our schedule, this is our team.”


    PHILADELPHIA
    — Thirteen Big East Presidents voted unanimously Tuesday to invite “specific institutions” to the conference for both football-only and all-sports.

    Big East Commissioner John Marinatto declined to specify the names of the schools, or the total number of invites that would go out, but said, “Our goal is to get to a 12-football school model.”

    It has been widely reported that Air Force, Boise State and Navy will receive football invites and Houston, SMU and Central Florida will be invited for all sports. Marinatto essentially conceded that UCF would get an invite when he mentioned that UCF and South Florida “are two schools within the same state that obviously have a rivalry going…Those kind of rivalries drive value.”

    UCF spokesperson Grant Heston told The Associated Press that no invitation had yet been received, but “We understand things are moving in that direction.”

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