November 2013 | Page 11 of 22 | 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.
  • Oregon State freshman guard Hallice Cooke said President Obama gave him some basketball advice Saturday in the Oval Office.

    “At the White House, President Obama told me to rain down some jumpers,” Cooke told SNY.tv after Oregon State beat Maryland 90-83 Sunday at the Comcast Center. “So I was glad I could hit one for him.”

    Cooke made one 3-pointer for his only points of the game and Devon Collier went off for 29 points and 11 rebounds as the two former St. Anthony players won in front of the President and the First Family. Senior guard Roberto Nelson led Oregon State with 31 points.

    “President Obama told us to go out there and play hard and get a win,” Cooke said.

    Oregon assistant Tony Stubblefield and West Virginia assistant Larry Harrison were among those who watched Huntington (W.V.) Prep combo guard JaQuan Lyle Saturday night in Hazard, Ky.

    The one-time Louisville commit scored 15 points as Huntington Prep beat St. Louis Christian (Mo.), 64-43.

    Kentucky assistant Orlando Antigua was also on hand for 2015 wing Montaque “Teki” Gill-Caesar, who scored 13 points. Gill-Caesar may opt to reclass to 2014 from 2015, similar to what fellow Canadian Andrew Wiggins did.

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    Kentucky hasn’t formally offered 2015 wing Montaque “Teki” Gill-Caesar but he apparently has an open invitation to join the program.

    “From my understanding, just in conversation, if Teki wanted to go to Kentucky, he can go to Kentucky,” Huntington Prep coach Rob Fulford told Ben Roberts of NextCats.

    Those comments echo what Fulford told SNY.tv recently following Gill-Caesar’s unofficial visit to Kentucky.

    How much did Jabari Parker impress the NBA scouts on Tuesday night in Chicago when he went off for 27 points in a loss to Kansas?

    “That dude could play right now [in the NBA], like today,” one NBA assistant coach who sat courtside told SNY.tv.

    “Like if he left Duke right now and said, ‘I’m leaving,’ he would be Utah’s best player. He would be a lot of teams’ best player.”

    Stanley Johnson is staying on the West Coast.

    The 6-foot-6 Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei wing became the latest member of the famed Oakland Soldiers AAU program to pick Arizona on Friday, choosing Sean Miller’s program over USC, Kentucky, Oregon and Florida.

    “I’m going to the University of Arizona,” Johnson said on ESPNU as he held up two Arizona sneakers.

    “Arizona’s a great school overall. What put me over the top for them is just the way they recruited me since freshman year. And Coach [Sean] Miller has been great for me, genuine, honest. His coaching staff has been totally up front with me from the beginning…And just the genuine nature of the coaches and the family feeling I got when I got on campus.

    “I always tell people I want the feeling of family and when I got on campus, the two times I’ve been there with my family, they showed out the best.”

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