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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.
  • Norvel Pelle, the onetime St. John’s signee who is now being compared to Kevin Durant by his brother, visited Iona for two days this week but remains uncommitted.

    The 7-foot Pelle visited Iona Monday and Tuesday and would be arguably their most highly touted player ever should he choose the Gaels.

    “He’s definitely worked on a lot of skill-sets that we were focusing a lot on film, dribbling the basketball, shooting and playing more like a guard,” Rambo Rasheed, Pelle’s older brother, told SNY.tv Wednesday by phone. “So he looks way more like a guard now. Comparing more him toward a ‘KD’ instead of a ‘KG [Kevin Garnett],’ you know?”

    Marcus Lee, one of the standout performers of the July live period, has trimmed his list to seven schools.

    His brother, Brian, confirmed to SNY.tv that Marcus is considering Duke, Cal, UCLA, Kentucky, Louisville, Indiana and Kansas. Marcus first gave the list to Jerry Meyer of 247Sports.

    “No visits [are] planned yet but we’ll get on it shortly,” Brian told SNY.tv.

    The 6-foot-8 Lee out of Antioch (Calif.) Deer Valley said at the Nike Global Challenge that he was especially impressed with Duke and Coach K for staying in touch with him while coaching Team USA in the Olympics.

    Andrew Wiggins and Xavier Rathan-Mayes are headed to Kentucky.

    Well, sort of.

    The Huntington (West Va.) Prep duo will play a pair of games in the Commonwealth in November — one in Lexington and one in Louisville — when their high school team faces two teams from their native Canada.

    Huntington Prep coach Rob Fulford initially Tweeted the plans to ZAGSBLOG contributor Chip Miller and later confirmed to SNY.tv that he was setting the games up.

    Tyler Roberson, one of the top small forwards in the Class of 2013 out of Roselle (N.J.) Catholic, will be contributing periodically to ZAGSBLOG entering his senior season. Here’s his fifth entry:

    In the month of July I was busy with AAU tournaments, camps and recruitment.

    At the beginning of July I was invited to the Lebron James Skills Academy where there were a lot of talented players at the camp.  I was also invited to the Reebok Breakout Challenge and got a chance to play in the All-Star game which was fun.  There were also a lot of talented players at this camp as well.  I had fun at both camps and they were both good experiences.

    Cincinnati has added 7-foot-1 shot-blocker David Nyarsuk for the upcoming season but can’t yet officially comment on the big man, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told SNY.tv.

    A native of the Sudan, Nyarsuk will have two years of eligibility at the Big East school.

    He originally committed to West Virginia but did not qualify academically.

    “We’re excited about David’s ability to be a game changer at the defensive end of the floor,” Mounties coach Bob Huggins said in November 2009 when he first signed there.

    Indiana and UCLA are ranked 1-2, respectively, in The Sporting News preseason basketball poll.

    And the two traditional powerhouses could meet Nov. 20 in the final of the Legends Classic at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

    Indiana plays Georgia in the first semifinal Nov. 19, and UCLA faces Georgetown in the second semifinal.

    “We’re moving forward,” Hoosiers coach Tom Crean told SNY.tv at the Peach Jam. “I don’t think as a coach you ever feel like you’re really where you want to be because there’s always room for improvement.

    James Young will likely sign in November, not the spring, according to his former AAU coach.

    “He’s sitting down now with his family and trying to decide when to make the visits and go from there,” Marlon “Smoke” Williamson, Young’s former coach with the Detroit-based AAU club “The Family,” told SNY.tv Monday.

    Asked when Young would sign, Williamson said: “It’s up in the air right now. I think it’s probably going to be early, I doubt if he waits.”

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