November 2012 | Page 16 of 24 | 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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Friday / November 22.
  • [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNoerg38gjo&w=560&h=315]

    As we reported Saturday on Twitter, the Rolling Stones have officially added a show on December 8 at Barclays Centermarking the first U.S. date on ‘The Stones—50 and Counting’ celebration.  Tickets are on sale Monday, November 19 at 10 am.

    The Stones will also play four sold out concerts at London’s O2 Arena on Nov. 25 and 29 and at the Prudential Center on Dec. 13 and 15.

    All ticket information is available at www.rollingstones.com

    The Dec. 15 show will be telecast live via pay-per-view at 9 p.m. EST and is entitled “One More Shot.”

    Isaiah Whitehead, one of the top shooting guards in the Class of 2014 out of Brooklyn Lincoln High School, will be contributing periodically to ZAGSBLOG during his junior season. Whitehead is the latest Lincoln star to follow in the footsteps of Stephon Marbury, Sebastian Telfair and Lance Stephenson. Here’s his first entry:

    Throughout the whole summer I have been getting recruited by many of the major universities in the country.

    Recently I have trimmed my list to Kentucky, Maryland, Arizona, Syracuse, St. John’s, UCLA, Florida, Kansas, Rutgers and Louisville. So I have just been watching all the games and playing styles of the schools that I like.

    Former Penn State commit Brandon Austin is down to three schools and could pull the trigger this week.

    The NCAA early signing period runs Nov. 14-21.

    “The three schools that he visited, UConn, Providence and Texas are all in play,” Lonnie Lowry, Austin’s AAU coach, told SNY.tv Sunday.

    “I think that he’ll have a decision done probably sometime this week. I would be shocked if he didn’t know something by the end of the week. The signing period starts [Wednesday].”

    Indiana scored a huge commit Saturday night when it landed Noah Vonleh, a 6-foot-9 power forward from New Hampton (N.H.) who had reclassifed to 2013 from 2014.

    The news was first by reported by ESPN.com.

    “From Day One, Indiana has been recruiting me the hardest,” Vonleh told ESPN.com. “They were just letting me know how they could develop me into the player I want to be at the next level. Their academics are good, they’re the No. 1 team in the country and they’ve got another great class coming in next year.”

    Vonleh pledged to Indiana on his official visit this weekend. His cousin, Tevin Coleman, is a freshman running back on the Indiana football team.

    Vonleh also considered Syracuse, Georgetown, UConn and North Carolina.

    The Rivals No. 7 prospect in the Class of 2013, Vonleh could slide in and potentially replace Cody Zeller, should the sophomore big man head to the NBA after this season.

    GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Chris Smith will be courtside on Sunday for the Manhattan-Louisville game at the KFC Yum! Center.

    But which school will he be rooting for?

    “I’m going to actually support both teams,” said Smith.

    The former Knicks shooting guard and brother of Knicks guard J.R. Smith, Chris was waived by the Knicks on Oct. 26, but is rehabbing his surgically-repaired knee at their facilities.

    Smith began his college career at Manhattan under former coach Barry Rohrssen, but switched midstream and finished up at Louisville under Rick Pitino. Smith helped the Cardinals reach the Final Four last year where they lost to eventual national champion Kentucky.

    “Of course I want to root for Louisville because I graduated from there,” Smith said last week. “I’ve been there for three years.

    By DAN KELLY

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    NEW YORK — More than 30 NBA scouts were on hand Friday night to watch the college hoops baptism of Kentucky’s newest shot-blocking giants.

    Nerlens Noel and Willie Cauley-Stein combined for 7 blocks and swung at about 20 others, but they gave up 28 offensive rebounds in the process. This night, at least as far as the scouts were concerned, belonged to Maryland’s sophomore big man, Alex Len.

    Let’s break down the three players and see what we learned:

    NEW YORK — Alex Len’s draft stock is on the rise after his performance Friday night against Kentucky.

    The 7-foot-1 sophomore center from the Ukraine finished with career- and game-bests of 23 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks in Maryland’s 72-69 loss to defending national champion Kentucky at the Barclays Center.

    Len outplayed Kentucky’s highly acclaimed freshmen big man duo of Nerlens Noel and Willie Cauley-Stein, who combined for 12 points, 15 rebounds and 7 blocks.

    “Len is terrific,” raved one NBA Director of Scouting.

    “Len is a lottery pick,” a longtime NBA scout told SNY.tv after the game. “Noel and Cauley-Stein are great young prospects with a lot to learn.”

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