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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.
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    • Articles

    By JOSH VERLIN

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    In addition to Philadelphia’s loaded 2013 class — Rysheed Jordan, Brandon Austin, Steve Vasturia, John Davis and many others could star at the next level –there are quite a few talented 2014s and 2015s to keep an eye on as they work on getting to play Division I basketball.

    Here are five players from the current junior class to keep an eye on:

    ERIC ANDERSON (The Haverford School)
    Anderson’s one of those players who might not blow you away at first, but the more you watch him the more there is to like. A 6-foot-6 wing, Anderson plays the 4 for Haverford but projects as a true wing out on the next level. A good shooter with decent athleticism, he has a good basketball IQ and won’t make many bad decisions on the court.

    Davidson, Princeton and Fairfield have already offered and a lot of other high-academic schools are very interested; with a good start to his junior season (he scored 18 points Friday night in a win over Moyer and dropped 15 points and 13 rebounds in a win over Valley Forge on Tuesday) he could end up a little higher than that.

    Articles, Recruiting

    Julius Randle has been sidelined with a fractured foot, but the 6-foot-9 power forward out of Prestonwood (TX) Christian is looking forward to three college visits in the New Year and hopes to play in the McDonald’s All-American game.

    Randle will visit N.C. State the weekend of Jan. 26 before heading to Texas Feb. 9 and Kansas Feb. 16. He has already taken officials to Kentucky (Sept. 15) and Florida (Oct. 6). He is also considering Oklahoma.

    “My next visit will be to N.C. State the weekend of Jan. 26, and I cannot wait to get down there to hang out with the coaches and my boy Rodney (Purvis),” Randle wrote on his USA Today blog. “I talk to him all the time and he tells me about how he’s doing and things like that. The whole team and staff seem pretty close, so I really like that.

    Knicks

    Carmelo Anthony is expected to sit out Saturday’s game against Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers after spraining his left ankle in Thursday’s win over the Lakers.

    He will likely return for Monday’s game against former Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin and the Houston Rockets.

    Anthony is officially listed as questionable for Saturday. The Knicks did not hold practice Friday and cancelled shootaround Saturday so Anthony has not been made available to the media since he scored 30 points in 22 minutes of the 100-97 victory over Los Angeles.

    Andrew Wiggins, Articles, Kentucky, Recruiting

    Kentucky coach John Calipari will be on the move recruiting this weekend.

    He is expected to watch Andrew Wiggins and Huntington (W.V.) Prep Saturday in Kentucky, and then see 2014 commit Karl Towns Sunday at the Hoop Group Tip-Off in New Jersey.

    Huntington, which also features 2015 standout Montaque ” Tekhi” Gill-Caesar, plays Arlington Country Day (Fla.) on Saturday in Ashland, Ky.

    North Carolina coach Roy Williams saw Wiggins go for 17 points and 18 rebounds on Wednesday in a rout of University of Charleston JV.

    Knicks

    KobeMeloOlympicsBy JOSH NEWMAN

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    NEW YORK — Kobe Bryant considers Carmelo Anthony a good friend, and when good friends have as much time together as the two Olympians did this past summer, any number of topics are bound to pop up.

    Somewhere between United States Olympic Team training camp in Las Vegas and trips to Washington, D.C., Manchester, Barcelona and finally London over the course of five weeks on their way to Olympic gold, the topic between the two turned to Anthony’s 2011-12 season, which was more frustrating and exasperating than anything.

    Under the bright lights and intense scrutiny of New York, Anthony was labeled selfish and, despite being one of the premier scorers of this generation, was thought to even be expendable at one point. Of course, all of this coincided with Jeremy Lin and the rise of ‘Linsanity.’

    Anthony missed seven games and most of an eighth between Feb. 6-19 of last season with a groin injury, just as Lin was rising to prominence and helping to save a season that was heading nowhere. Upon his return Feb. 20, the Knicks proceeded to lose eight of their next 10 games, prompting people to wonder if Anthony was the problem.

    Recruiting

    Jabari Parker will announce his college choice Thursday on ESPNU, but said he still is not completely certain where he will go.

    He is considering Duke, Michigan State, Florida, BYU and Stanford, with the expectation being that he’ll pick Duke or MSU.

    “Not right now,” Parker told ESPN’s Dave Telep before Simeon lost to DeSoto, 67-57, in Texas in an ESPN game. “I’m kind of iffy. I’m still balancing things out. I have second opinions that I’m just learning from my family trying to see if the right decision I’m going to make is there. But right now, it’s not all the way 100 percent.”

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