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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.
  • Josh Brown’s verbal commitment to Temple is done after the 2013 St. Anthony point guard and St. Anthony assistant coach Eric Harrield spoke again with Temple head coach Fran Dunphy Monday night.

    “He verbally committed last night to Temple,” St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley told SNY.tv.

    At 6-foot-2 and just a junior, Brown has a big upside going forward.

    “He’s converting from being just an athlete, like a wing player,” said Hurley, coach of the reigning mythical national champs. “He’s been moved over to play the point and his on-the-job training began last April or so. In the first stage it’s gone very well. He has a good personality to be a point guard. He’s a very friendly kid. He’s a good talker. He plays extremely hard.

    Julius Randle, the No. 1 power forward in the Class of 2013 and a potential program-changer, hosted Kentucky coach John Calipari and assistant Orlando Antigua Monday.

    “I talk to Coach Orlando the most right now, but Coach Cal talks to my mom and coach a lot,” Randle told Garrett Tucker of BluegrassHoops.com. “I think I have a great relationship with Coach O. He always talks about how well I would fit in at Kentucky, and he just tries to get me to go there.”

    EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Turns out the Vanderbilt Commodores don’t need Festus Ezeli to win a tournament after all.

    Behind a combined 27 points from John Jenkins and Jeffery Taylor and a clutch jumper by Brad Tinsley with 4.5 seconds left, Vandy won a tight contest over previously unbeaten Oregon State, 64-62, to capture the Legends Class Monday night at the Izod Center.

    “We want to win championships and this is the start, so we got it and we’re feeling good,” Jenkins, a 6-foot-4 junior guard, said after being named tournament MVP.

    EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Jared Cunningham committed to Arizona State as a sophomore out of San Leandro (Calif.) High School.

    But Cunningham said the school opted to go in a different direction during signing period of his senior year, leaving him free and clear to go somewhere else.

    “I think they got somebody at my position,” Cunningham told SNY.tv Monday at the Izod Center. “I really never got the answer really what happened. We just decided to part ways.”

    Arizona suspended freshman forward Sidiki Johnson of The Bronx for an unspecified violation of team rules, and it remains unclear when, or if, he will return to the team.

    The team announced the “indefinite” suspension in a statement but there was no comment from head coach Sean Miller.

    Bernard Bowen, Johnson’s mentor, did not immediately respond to a text.

    The 6-foot-8, 235-pound Johnson is averaging 0.3 points and 0.7 rebounds in three games this season.

    EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Devon Collier could have stayed home to play college ball.

    Big East schools St. John’s, Seton Hall and Providence were in the final mix for the 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward from The Bronx who finished his high school career playing for Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley at St. Anthony.

    But Collier visited Oregon State several times, met with head coach Craig Robinson and decided that was the place for him because it felt like a “second family.”

    “We felt that going away would be a good experience for me,” Collier told SNY.tv after shootaround Monday at the Izod Center. “I’m able to mature, get away from everything and it would be a good choice for me just to play in the Pac-12.”

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