November 2012 | Page 23 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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Sunday / December 22.
  • Gill St. Bernard’s power forward Austin Colbert is enjoying his official visit to Villanova and is closing in on a decision in the next week.

    The 6-foot-9 Colbert attended Villanova’s 69-59 exhibition on Thursday night win over Carleton (that noted Ultimate Frisbee powerhouse).

    Senior forward Mouphtaou Yarou paced Villanova with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while sophomore guard Darrun Hilliard added 15 points, three assists, and three rebounds. Freshman point guard Ryan Arcidiacono got his first start for coach Jay Wright’s club after missing his senior season at Neshaminy (Pa.) High after back surgery.

    “I like the campus a lot,” Colbert texted SNY.tv. “I like how everybody is supportive and it’s a great fit for me. I’ve been hanging out with the coaches and players. 

    Kamall Richards will visit Seton Hall the weekend of Nov. 9-11 and then potentially decide his college future.

    The 6-foot-6 wing from South Kent (Conn.) said he is basically considering Seton Hall, St. Joe’s and Xavier at this point.

    “That’s pretty much it,” Richards told SNY.tv Friday by phone. “Probably after this Seton Hall visit I’m go to really think about  it.”

    Richards, a Garden State native, said he was originally supposed to visit Seton Hall officially this weekend but it was postponed by the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

    Dwyane Wade doesn’t want tonight’s Heat-Knicks game to be played at all, but says he will donate his game check to Hurricane Sandy victims.

    “It’s my favorite place to play,” Wade told USA TODAY Sports of the Garden. “But just knowing a lot of people here and knowing what they’ve been going through with no power, no water, no food … to me, it just seems like there’s bigger things to be concerned about than a basketball game.

    “Even though I know life goes on and you still have to do certain things, I just felt that they canceled the game in Brooklyn, then this one would be canceled as well. … The game tonight shouldn’t be played.”

    JaJuan Johnson, a 6-foot-5, 188-pound shooting guard from Memphis Southwind, verbally pledged to Marquette on Friday.

    Johnson chose coach Buzz Williams’s club over Alabama and Miami.

    “He liked the intensity and the strength of their program,” Shaun Williams, JaJuan’s mother, told SNY.tv Friday. “With back-to-back Sweet 16s, [he feels they have] the ability and the urge to make the Final Four instead of just making it to the [NCAA] tournament.”

    Johnson is a prolific scorer and Shaun said that’s what her son will deliver to the Big East program.

    UCLA coach Ben Howland is hopeful that superstar freshman Shabazz Muhammad will be cleared by the NCAA.

    “I’m very optimistic about Shabazz,” Howland told reporters Thursday at Pac-12 media day in San Francisco. “I can’t tell you how long or when, I don’t know that. But again, these are great kids and I’m very confident that things are going to work out and very optimistic.”

    The 6-foot-6 Muhammad is being investigated by the NCAA for allegedly receiving improper benefits from boosters of his AAU program and for improper acceptance of airline flights for some of his recruiting visits.

    Muhammad had been practicing with the Bruins until hurting his right shoulder last week. His availability for their season opener on Nov. 9 against Indiana State is unknown.

    **The Knicks-Nets game was postponed to Nov. 26 at the Barclays Center. Read about it here.

    Marcus Camby very nearly joined the Miami Heat as a free agent this past July after talking extensively to team president Pat Riley.

    How close did he come to becoming part of the Miami Dream Team?

    “Honestly, I was going on the plane to Miami when Allan [Houston] and Glen [Grunwald] and Woody [Mike Woodson] came down to Houston,” Camby, 38, told reporters after practice Thursday. “So that’s how close I was.”

    Camby, who helped the Knicks reach the NBA Finals in 1999, added, “In hindsight I felt that I’m always a Knick at heart.”

    Jarell Martin, a 6-foot-9, 223-pound combo forward from Baton Rouge (La.) Madison Prep, verbally pledged to LSU on Thursday.

    Martin had also considered St. John’s, Texas A&M, UCLA, Alabama and Oklahoma State. Originally slated to sign in the spring, Martin can now sign in the early period.

    Jeff Jones, Martin’s high school coach, previously told SNY.tv Martin was “more of a face-up four who can play the three. He knocks down 3-balls, puts it on the floor. He’s in the mold of a Terrence Jones at Kentucky.

    “He has a little bit better handle at this stage.”

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