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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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Monday / December 23.
  • HowlandFormer UCLA coach Ben Howland is a “a very serious candidate” to replace Craig Robinson at Oregon State, a source close to the situation told SNY.tv.

    Howland, 56, led UCLA to three consecutive Final Fours from 2006-8 but was let go following the 2012-13 season.

    He was in the mix for the openings at Marquette, Tennessee and Missouri, but did not land any of those jobs.

    The Oregonian reported that Oregon State AD Bob De Carolis “was in touch” with Howland “as far back as early last month.” Robinson, the brother-in-law of President Obama, was fired Monday, six weeks after the season ended.

    Arizona coach Sean Miller continued to clean up on the West Coast by landing Justin Simon, a 6-foot-5, 185-pound combo guard out of Temecula Valley (CA).

    A four-star recruit ranked No. 23 by Rivals and No. 45 by ESPN, Simon joins five-star point guard Tyler Dorsey of Bellflower (CA) St. John Bosco in Arizona’s 2015 recruiting class and gives them a versatile and tall backcourt for the future. Dorsey is also 6-4.

    Both Simon and Dorsey were invited to participate in the 2014 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team training camp next month in Colorado Springs, Colo.

    “It came down to Arizona, Kansas, Louisville, Santa Clara, Washington, Texas and New Mexico,” Ken Simon, Justin’s father, told SNY.tv. “All those schools recruited him very well and had a plan for him. The reason why Justin chose Arizona was the coaching staff and the winning atmosphere.”

    Ivan Rabb is the No. 1 player in the Class of 2015 according to ESPN.com and a potential NBA lottery pick in 2016.

    At this point, the 6-foot-10, 210-pound post player from Oakland Bishop O’Dowd is being recruited by a Who’s Who of elite colleges and plans to trim his list later this summer.

    “The schools that he has recruiting him are University of California-Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, Georgetown and North Carolina,” Bishop O’Dowd coach Lou Richie told SNY.tv Tuesday.

    “I think he’s planning on cutting that after the summer after he takes a couple unofficial visits.”

    Ben Gamble, who has served as Bob Hurley’s associate head coach at St. Anthony since 2000, is parting ways with the Hall of Fame coach in order to become the head man at Cardinal McCarrick High School in South Amboy, N.J.

    “I saw that there was a job opening,” Gamble, 50, told SNY.tv by phone. “I just wanted to try to make a change in my coaching career. It was a great opportunity. McCarrick I knew in the past had some really great years.”

    Hurley, a Naismith Hall of Fame coach who has won 27 state titles, four national high school crowns and more than 1,100 games, said it was the end of an era at St. Anthony.

    Former Oklahoma State pledge Jared Terrell visited Boston College on Monday and Rhode Island on Tuesday, sources told SNY.tv.

    Adam Finkelstein reported that Terrell said he “really enjoyed” his visit to BC.

    Boston College recently hired Jim Christian as head coach and Christian added Preston Murphy, a former Rhode Island assistant, and Scott Spinelli, a Massachusetts native, to his staff.

    The 6-foot-3 Terrell of Brewster (N.H.) Academy picked Oklahoma State last September over Rhode Island, Providence and Cincinnati. He is ranked No. 66 in the Class of 2014 by Rivals.com.

    Providence is no longer recruiting Terrell, sources told SNY.tv, while Rhode Island remains in the mix.

    Mitchell Wilbekin, a 6-foot-1, 165-pound point guard from Gainesville (Fla.) Rock School, has committed to Wake Forest and will follow coach Danny Manning there.

    He had previously committed to Tulsa, Manning’s previous stop.

    “Yeah, I did,” Wilbekin told SNY.tv by phone of his Wake commitment. “My relationship with Coach Manning and the rest of the staff and the chance to play in the ACC at a program like Wake that has a lot of basketball history are all things that I loved about it.”

    Wilbekin, the younger brother of former Florida point guard Scottie Wilbekin, said he also considered Virginia and USF.

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