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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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Thursday / December 26.
  • By NICK MEDLINE

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    RIVERSIDE, Ill. Juwan Morgan is on a mission.

    “I want to show coaches that I’m a basketball player, and not just a number on the stat sheet,” the 6-foot-9 Morgan out of Waynesville (MO) Sr. told SNY.tv on Saturday.

    The only numbers they could focus on were the stats themselves: Morgan scored 22 points, adding four blocks and four assists in a weekend game at Riverside (IL).

    “At the end of the day, it’s all fun. I have to keep that mentality,” Morgan said. “I’m not playing just because the coaches are here.”

    While coaches across America are out recruiting, Minnesota has landed a pledge.

    Kevin Dorsey, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound point guard from Waldorf (MD) Paul VI Catholic, committed to Minnesota Saturday over Maryland and Nebraska.

    Dorsey is the No. 17-rated point guard in the Class of 2015, according to 247Sports.com’s composite rankings.

    ‘Kevin brings pure speed and toughness and plays fearlessly,” Paul VI coach Glen Farello told SNY.tv. “He is explosive and competes every possession.”

    PurifoyPHILADELPHIA — At 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds, Danjel Purifoy has an ideal body for a college wing player, and a likely a professional career of some sort beyond that.

    “I think I’ve been doing good,” Purifoy told SNY.tv Friday at the Reebok Classic Breakout. “I started off a little slow, but in the middle of the games I started attacking and do what I do.”

    An Alabama native who will play next season at Hargrave (VA) Military Academy, Purifoy played this week on a fairly loaded team that also included Diamond Stone, Malik Ellison and Jeantal Cylla. 

    Derrick jonesPHILADELPHIA — Playing in front of a hometown crowd Friday evening in the Reebok Classic Breakout, Radnor (PA) Archbishop Carroll star Derrick Jones put on a show.

    It seemed every time you looked up, the 6-foot-7 wing was soaring to the basket for a windmill dunk or throwing down an alley oop. He finished with a game-high 24 points.

    The crowd of head coaches on hand at the camp’s end included Florida’s Billy Donovan and Illinois’ John Groce, but a slew of other heavyweights watched Jones during the three-day camp.

    adidas UnrivaledBy NICK MEDLINE

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    CHICAGO —  “There were a lot of things I could have done better,” Chase Jeter said of his Thursday performance at the Chicago Adidas Unrivaled Camp.

    The following afternoon, there were no such concerns. In a critical matchup, he was nearly perfect.

    Jeter scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and added seven rebounds — all in 22 minutes — against fellow top-10 prospect Carlton Bragg.

    “I’m just running the floor, blocking shots, getting rebounds and being a high motor guy,” Jeter said. “I did a better job of that today.

    DialloBy MIKE GRIMALA

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    LAS VEGAS — Cheick Diallo’s first official visit was a good one, but the New York big man doesn’t plan on hitting the road to tour any more campuses until the fall.

    Speaking Friday at the LeBron James Skills Academy in Las Vegas, Diallo said that while he enjoyed his official visit to Kentucky in June, his schedule won’t allow him to take another visit until September.

    “I think in September I want to go out and visit,” Diallo said. “I visited Kentucky, and that was my first one. It’s a good school and it was a great visit, so I want to go out and visit some more.”

    Rawle NYBy NICK MEDLINE

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    CHICAGO Rawle Alkins missed the bus and, subsequently, was forced to sit out the entire first half of a Saturday game at Adidas Unrivaled Camp in Chicago.

    Thankfully for Alkins, he rarely misses an opportunity to impress college coaches. In his shortened outing, he showed off many of the qualities that have them watching.

    “I tried to make up some time,” the Christ the King guard said. “We were down, we tried to make a comeback. I guess you could say I played hard with the time that I had.”

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