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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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    • Articles, Recruiting

    PHILADELPHIA — Team Texas Elite teammates Elijah Thomas and Jawun Evans continue to talk about potentially joining forces in college.

    “It’s on our mind, that would be a good thing for us to be playing together since AAU started, so it would probably be a good thing,” the 6-foot Evans told SNY.tv after he and Thomas helped take down a Diamond Stone-led team at the Reebok Classic Breakout.

    Evans is the No. 5 point guard in the Class of 2015, according to 247Sports composite rankings, while Thomas is the No. 11 power forward in the class.

    Recruiting

    By MIKE GRIMALA

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    LAS VEGAS —  Stephen Zimmerman is in the midst of the busiest summer of his life, and it doesn’t look like things will be slowing down anytime soon for the 7-foot center with the sweet left-handed stroke.

    A consensus top-10 player in the Class of 2015, Zimmerman has been everywhere in recent months. He spent the summer playing on the EYBL circuit with the Oakland Soldiers, and much of his June was devoted to representing his country and helping the USA Basketball U18 team win gold at the FIBA World Championships. Next week, he’ll be heading to Georgia to play in the Nike Peach Jam tournament from July 16-20.

    Articles, Recruiting

    Stone-NewmanBy MIKE GRIMALA

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    LAS VEGAS — Even at an event as loaded with talent as the LeBron James Skills Academy, Malik Newman still manages to stand out.

    The 6-foot-4 guard is a consensus top-three player in the Class of 2015, and he showed off his innate scoring ability on Wednesday during the first day of workouts at the LeBron camp in Las Vegas.

    Newman didn’t step on the gas pedal too frequently or try too hard to take over the action. Instead, the Jackson, Miss. native let the game come to him and flashed the inside-out scoring ability that has made him one of the most coveted recruits in the nation.

    Articles

    Derrick JonesBy JOSH NEWMAN
    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    PHILADELPHIA – Radnor (Pa.) Archbishop Carroll star Derrick Jones has only visited one school to this point, but the visit to the University of Connecticut late last month was a positive one.

    “It was good,” the 6-foot-7 small forward said Wednesday evening at the Reebok Classic Breakout at Philadelphia University. “The coaches are just straight up front with everything and letting me know what I would be doing with everything. It’s great just to be able to be blessed with going to all these colleges.”

    Connecticut was three-deep on the first night at Reebok, with head coach Kevin Ollie front and center for Jones in the final game of the evening. If Ollie’s recruitment of Jones is going to yield a positive result, he’s going to have to navigate through plenty of company.

    Articles, Recruiting

    Derryck ThorntonBy JOSH NEWMAN
    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    PHILADELPHIA – Derryck Thornton visited both Kentucky and Michigan last month. No matter what happens during the all-important month of July, Findlay Prep’s 2016 star guard doesn’t intend to step foot on another college campus this summer.

    “I’ve only been to two campuses this summer [Michigan and Kentucky] and I think I’m done taking visits for the rest of the summer,” Thornton said Wednesday evening at the Reebok Classic Breakout at Philadelphia University. “Both visits were great. I thank God for what he’s doing for me because without him, I wouldn’t be here. Everyone is doing a great job right now.”

    Thornton is a consensus Top-10 player in the Class of 2016 who was named MVP of the recent Steph Curry Camp  in the Bay Area and also won the title at the NBA Top 100 Camp.

    He played Wednesday night in front of Kentucky head coach John Calipari, Michigan head coach John Beilein and UConn coach Kevin Ollie, among others. Those were just three of a slew of high-major coaches who flocked to the court to watch a game that included 2015 big men Skal Labissiere and Diamond Stone. 

    Articles

    Skal LabissiereBy JOSH NEWMAN
    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    PHILADELPHIA – Any lingering doubt that Skal Labissiere is near the top of a deep 2015 big man crop should be fading at this point.

    Labissiere, a 6-foot-10 forward out of Evangelical Christian School (TN) and the 10th-ranked player in the class according to Scout.com, hammered that point home on Wednesday evening when he impressed, and maybe even got the better of Diamond Stone during the opening game of the Reebok Breakout Classic in Philadelphia University.

    The folks running the Reebok event weren’t messing around when they made the schedule. They pitted Labissiere against Stone, Scout’s No. 1 player in the Class of 2015, and also put Labissiere on a team with 2016 stars Derryck Thornton and Tyus Battle.

    Articles, Recruiting

    Briscoe RCJuice up the rental car and make sure that GPS on the dashboard is working.

    The July recruiting period is here!

    College basketball coaches will be criss-crossing America over the next three weeks in the hopes of landing players who can help their programs win games and, ultimately, capture NCAA championships.

    Beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday, an army of college coaches will descend upon Las Vegas, Philadelphia and Chicago for the Nike, Reebok and Adidas camps.

    “1st official day of recruiting. Starts at 5 pm. So excited to see a lot of future Orange!” Syracuse assistant Mike Hopkins Tweeted.

    “Couldn’t sleep last night — first day of recruiting” N.C. State assistant Orlando Early Tweeted.

    As we head into July recruiting, here are five key storylines to keep an eye on as the month unfolds.

    1. Where will Cal be?

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