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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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Wednesday / December 18.
  • JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Rutgers coach Eddie Jordan received some good news relating to Kerwin Okoro last Friday.

    And now he’s hoping for more good news about J.J. Moore and Junior Etou later this week.

    “Hopefully the end of the week but who knows?” Jordan told SNY.tv Monday afternoon at St. Anthony High School where he was recruiting.

    “Obviously, J.J. is eligible, it’s just his waiver.  And Junior is a qualifier, it’s just about his experiences over in Africa. And that’s it.”

    Moore, a 6-6 Pitt transfer, is hoping to play immediately this year, just like Okoro, who was cleared Friday when the NCAA reversed course after initially declaring him ineligible this year upon his transfer from Iowa State.

    Etou is a 6-7 Bishop O’Connell (Va.) big man who is facing questions about his amateurism status.

    Stanley Johnson, the highly sought after wing from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei, cut his list to five on Monday.

    Johnson Tweeted he is down to USC, Arizona, Kentucky, Oregon and Florida.

    UCLA and Kansas are out.

    He visited Arizona this past weekend with Chicago Curie forward Cliff Alexander and has plans to visit Kentucky (Oct. 18) and Florida (Nov. 30). He was originally supposed to take an official to Kansas Oct. 4 for “Late Night in the Phog,” but postponed it to be with USA Basketball. Now it appears that visit won’t be made at all.

    Johnson and Houston wing Justise Winslow have discussed a potential package, and Winslow is also considering Arizona, Kentucky and Florida. Winslow has yet to cut his list to five.

    Former Maryland commit Sam Cassell Jr. is closing in on a decision.

    The 6-foot-3 Cassell Jr. visited Marquette this past weekend after visiting Missouri two weeks ago.

    “I just left Marquette this past weekend [and] I enjoyed the visit,” Cassell Jr. told SNY.tv.

    The Mizzou visit also went well.

    “I enjoyed myself,” he said.

    Cassell Jr. is also considering UConn and Florida State, among others, and may take one or two more visits.

    Are Cliff Alexander and JaQuan Lyle the latest pair of high-profile recruits who will package together in college?

    As I addressed in this previous column, many elite prospects talk about packaging, and very few of the dynamic duos actually pan out.

    At this stage, the Tyus jones/Jahlil Okafor package seems the most likely to actually happen.

    That said, the 6-foot-9 Alexander out of Chicago Curie Tweeted Sunday that “Me & broski will be playing @JMamba5 playing college basketball together.”

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