November 2013 | Page 18 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.
  • Georgetown senior John Caprio had every walk-on’s dream come true just before the 2013-14 school year started.

    Caprio, a 6-foot-6 North Caldwell, N.J., native who attended Seton Hall Prep, was in the car with his mother, Margaret, driving down the New Jersey Turnpike for his final year of school when his phone buzzed.  It was a text from his head coach, John Thompson III.

    The text message from Thompson informed Caprio that he was no longer a walk-on and that he was being awarded a scholarship for this, his senior year.

    “I think it was more exciting for my mom,” Caprio said.  “We were driving back to campus when I got the text and she was just so excited that I had to remind her we were still driving.”

    It doesn’t get much more exciting for a high school prospect than what Matt Ryan experienced on Wednesday.

    Kentucky assistant Orlando Antigua and North Carolina assistant Hubert Davis both reached out to the 6-foot-6, 200-pound 2015 Iona Prep small forward.

    “Big day,” an excited Ryan told SNY.tv. “[Antigua] texted me a couple minutes ago and asked me how I was doing and saying they’re interested.

    “He said that he wants to come up and see me and that he’s heard a lot of great things about me.”

    2014 Houston St. John’s wing Justise Winslow will visit Stanford this weekend, his mother confirmed to SNY.tv.

    The 6-foot-6 Winslow has kept his recruitment close to the vest but is also considering Duke, Arizona, UCLA, Florida and Texas A&M, among others.

    Winslow has yet to further cut his list and his decision could spill into the spring.

    He recently visited Duke along with Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor and also tripped to Florida last weekend.

    Former Rutgers coach Mike Rice is back to work at The Hoop Group.

    Rice is listed on the organization’s website as part of the staff, and Hoop Group President Rob Kennedy confirmed to SNY.tv that Rice is the “Director of Hoop Group Headquarters.”

    Kennedy said Rice will both work with kids and handle administrative duties.

    “I won’t be perfect moving forward, but I’ve changed,” Rice told “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts in an interview for ABC’s “20/20” that he will appear Friday at 10 p.m. “Having that taken away, your dream job…and having it done in such a visible way…and hurting the people closest to me…it changes a person.”

    “Mike has acknowledged his mistakes and has worked hard to make positive changes,” Kennedy told SNY.tv. “He has more passion and love of the game than any coach I have ever been around. I’m happy that Mike is able to share that energy with our Hoop Group participants.”

     Michael Carter-Williams is out to prove he should’ve been the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.

    “Every game I try to prove that I could’ve been the No. 1 pick,” Carter-Williams told Yahoo! Sports. “I have confidence in myself that I should’ve been.”

    The former Syracuse point guard went No. 11 last June, while UNLV freshman forward Anthony Bennett was the surprise No. 1 overall pick.

    So far, Carter-Williams is averaging 20 points, 7.8 assists and five rebounds for the Sixers, who are 3-1. He won NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors for last week, becoming the first rookie since Shaquille O’Neal in 1992 to do so, and has earned props from fellow Syracuse product Carmelo Anthony.

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