Syracuse got a major boost for the stretch run Sunday when senior James Southerland was cleared to play after winning his appeal.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim confirmed the news to SNY.tv by text.
Southerland, a 6-foot-8 Queens, N.Y., native , will debut at 3 p.m. against St. John’s at the Carrier Dome.
On Jan. 12, the school announced that Southerland was out until further notice due to an eligibility matter that was deemed academic in nature.
NEW YORK — Carmelo Anthony reiterated Knicks coach Mike Woodson’s mantra that Iman Shumpert shouldn’t be traded.
“He ain’t going nowhere, he ain’t gotta worry about that,” Anthony said of Shumpert after putting up 42 points in the Knicks’ 102-88 loss to the Clippers at Madison Square Garden. “The Knicks shouldn’t even be in trade talks right now.”
Shumpert has been mentioned in a potential multi-player deal to the Phoenix Suns for Jared Dudley.
Woodson said he addressed the trade rumors with Shumpert and the second-year guard isn’t going anywhere.
“He said don’t worry about,” Shumpert said after managing just two points on 1-of-4 shooting. “A rumor’s a rumor.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rngXuNzIhg Interest is heading up for Petar Rusic,
JaKarr Sampson and St. John’s are among the hottest teams in the Big East, having won six of their last seven games.
But the Johnnies (15-8, 7-4 Big East) will be severely tested with games at No. 9 Syracuse Sunday and No. 11 Louisville Thursday.
“I’m capable of thinking we can win,” Sampson, a freshman forward, said of the 3 p.m. tilt at the Carrier Dome. “Our coach and coaching staff has been doing a good job of getting us ready for this game and getting us ready for a physical game because it’s going to come down to rebounding. We need to rebound because we are great stopping teams on defense but we need to come away with the ball after that stop.”
Malik Price-Martin, a 6-foot-8, 175-pound 2014 power forward from Oakland Park (Fla.) Northeast, pledged to USC Sunday night.
After a recent visit to USC, he told Scout.com: “I see myself fitting in with Coach [Andy] Enfield’s offense.”
Martin also held offers from Florida, Louisville, Miami, Memphis, Florida State, Auburn, South Carolina, Rutgers and South Florida, among others.
“He is a face-up forward who attacks the basket from the perimeter,” Team Breakdown coach Kenny Gillon previously told SNY.tv. “He has a smooth stroke out to the 3-point line. He’s an aggressive rebounder and shot-blocker.
Julius Randle began his latest recruiting visit to Texas on Friday.
The 6-foot-9 senior forward from Prestonwood (TX) Christian will be on campus for Saturday’s Big 12 game against Oklahoma State.
“My next two visits are to Texas and Kansas, so I’m really looking forward to those,” he wrote on his USA Today blog. “Kansas will have College GameDay there too, so I know that will be crazy.”
Randle will be on Kansas’ campus next weekend for the Texas game, so he will actually see the Longhorns twice in eight days.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to the weather, Huntington Prep will not be playing in this weekend’s PrimeTime Shootout at Roselle (N.J.) Catholic.
Huntington Prep coach Rob Fulford said a fired-up Andrew Wiggins went off for 57 points Thursday night because he is angry at a controversial SI.com story that came out earlier Thursday.
“He was 100 percent pissed at the SI article degrading former players from Canada, his family and him personally,” Fulford told SNY.tv by text.
“I told him earlier today that people would want to see how he responded to his first taste of negative reporting. I challenged him to get 50 and told his teammates he was going for 50. He had 57 and was upset that I took him out before he got to 60. Point proven.”
Wiggins exploded for 57 points on 24-of-28 shooting, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals in a 111-59 win over Marietta College JV.
