By JACK LeGWIN
Special to ZAGSBLOG
Harry Giles will be back soon.
The new No.1 ranked player in the Class of 2016 by Scout.com says he hopes to be cleared soon from a knee injury that has forced him to sit out since the summer.
“I’m hoping to get cleared in March,” Giles told SNY.tv. “But I want to start playing late April or May.”
At this point, what froncourt player wouldn’t want to play with Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis?
The Orange are 24-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation and Ennis is the newest freshman sensation.
But incoming 6-foot-10 Syracuse signee Chris McCullough actually could play with Ennis next year.
And he would like to.
Very much.
St. John’s has as many as three or four future pros on its roster, but they should all stay in school at least another year, multiple NBA scouts told SNY.tv.
At this point, the Johnnies are in a dogfight to make this year’s NCAA Tournament and must keep winning, beginning with Sunday’s game against Georgetown, to maintain their hopes.
Still, whatever happens this year, if Rysheed Jordan, JaKarr Sampson, Chris Obekpa and D’Angelo Harrison all return next year — and the Johnnies only lose Orlando Sanchez and God’sgift Achiuwa — the Johnnies could be one of the best teams in the country in 2014-15.
“They should be one of the best teams in the country,” one veteran NBA scout told SNY.tv. “If they all come back, they should be really good.”
By JACK LeGWIN Special to ZAGSBLOG South Florida has
Larry Brown has transformed SMU’s national profile by recruiting back-to-back McDonald’s All-Americans in Keith Frazier and Emmanuel Mudiay.
Brown also managed to keep SMU among the final three for Andrew and Aaron Harrison before they chose Kentucky.
With the Mustangs now ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since 1985 and riding a wave of national attention, Brown believes an NCAA championship is within reach in the coming years.
“When we got here I told these guys, ‘Why not try to win a national championship?'” Brown, 73, told SNY.tv hours before his Mustangs beat Rutgers, 77-65, at the Rutgers Athletic Center behind Nic Moore’s 21 points.
By JACK LeGWIN
Special to ZAGSBLOG
Dejounte Murray is out to show that the Northwest still has high-level basketball.
The 6-foot-4 guard from Rainier Beach (Wa.) has helped lead the Vikings to a 22-0 record, including a 9-point win over Whitney Young (Ill.) and a 28-point win over Bishop Gorman (Nev.). Rainier Beach is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation by D1 Circuit, trailing only Mater Dei (Ca.).
Murray says that the team has one goal, and that is to take their undefeated season to New York City for the ESPN high school national championship in April.
Kevin Boyle is set to step off a plane in Newark Friday morning after flying to his native New Jersey from his new digs in Montverde, Fla.
The former St. Patrick coach will be in town this weekend when Montverde, the defending ESPN NHSI champion and No. 3 team in the USA Today Super 25, plays two games at the Metro Classic at Kean University.
Montverde, which features a half dozen Division 1 commits, faces Isaiah Briscoe and Roselle Catholic — the reigning New Jersey Tournament of Champions winner — on Saturday night at 9.
