Jermaine Lawrence is tearing it up.
The 6-foot-10 forward from the New Rens 17U team has knocked down 13 3-pointers in three games at the Philly JamFest, including six in Friday night’s 61-59 overtime win.
“He’s really, really shooting the ball well and doing a lot of things well,” Pope John (N.J.) coach Jason Hasson told SNY.tv.
Duke transfer Michael Gbinije could make ACC history.
The 6-foot-6 small forward committed to Syracuse Friday while on a visit with his father, Frank.
He will end up playing four years in the ACC — for two different schools.
“Yeah, that’s a little ironic,’’ Gbinije told the Syracuse Post-Standard after the news was first reported by SNY.tv late Friday night.
He would have played one year at Duke in the ACC, then will spend a year in the Big East (sitting out as per transfer rules) and then will finish his career back in the ACC with three years at Syracuse once the school changes leagues in 2013.
Larry Brown has been on the job at SMU less than a week and he’s already cutting players.
According to the Associated Press, SMU athletic director Steve Orsini said Friday night that Brown conducted an evaluation of the roster and held individual meetings with players.
While not saying how many or which players wouldn’t stay on the team, Orsini referred to “these young men” in his statement released by the school.
“During each meeting, there was honest, straight-forward discussion about the future of the program,” Orsini said. “No player was told his scholarship would not be renewed.”
UCLA-bound guard Kyle Anderson will undergo left thumb surgery on Monday and is expected to be sidelined for up to three months, his father told SNY.tv.
“Surgery is scheduled for Monday afternoon by Dr. Michelle Carlson, a highly respected hand specialist in New York,” Kyle Anderson Sr. told SNY.tv Friday.
The recovery time is expected to be approximately three months, putting him out of competition through July.
Orlando Sanchez signed his Letter of Intent with St. John’s Friday in his native Dominican Republic.
SNY.tv first reported last Sunday that the 6-foot-8 Sanchez and his Monroe (N.Y.) College teammate Marco Bourgault had verbally committed to Steve Lavin and his staff during their visit last weekend.
“I discussed it with my family and friends and we decided that this was the best opportunity,” said Sanchez, who also considered Auburn and Providence. “I’m looking forward to staying in New York and helping the Red Storm become champions. I’ll also be able to continue playing alongside my good friend and teammate Marco Bourgault and am looking very forward to playing some games at Madison Square Garden.”
According to statistics released today by the NBA (see below), the woeful Charlotte Bobcats stand a 25 percent of landing the No. 1 pick at the upcoming NBA Draft lottery.
Kentucky freshman forward Anthony Davis, the consensus National Player of the Year, is expected to be that No. 1 pick and the Bobcats better hope they get him.
Michael Jordan’s club finished the season 7-59 and with 23 straight losses. Their winning percentage was the worst in NBA history.
“The best thing that can happen is for all the Ping-Pong balls to fall their way, get the No. 1 pick, pick the kid from Kentucky and they’re on their way,” former NBA coach and current TNT analyst Mike Fratello told the New York Times.
The last NCAA champion to be the No. 1 pick was current Tulsa head coach Danny Manning in 1988. Davis and the Wildcats won the NCAA championship earlier this month in New Orleans.
The Washington Wizards have a 20 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick and the Cleveland Cavaliers and New Orleans Hornets both have about a 14 percent chance.
Devonta Pollard plans to announce his college choice by the end of next week.
“That’s my understanding, by next Friday,” Jeff Andrews of the Southern Phenoms told SNY.tv Friday by phone.
“I think he’s just going to go ahead and make a commitment next Friday.”
A 6-foot-8 senior small forward from Porterville (Miss.) Kemper County, Pollard is considering Alabama, Georgetown, Missouri and Texas.
