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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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Wednesday / December 25.
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    • Articles

    Amir GarrettBy JOSH NEWMAN
    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    Instead of pursing his basketball career at Cal State-Northridge, former St. John’s wing Amir Garrett will instead concentrate on baseball, he announced on Twitter Thursday.

    As a sophomore at St. John’s in 2012-13, the Los Angeles native and former Findlay Prep star averaged 5.4 points and 4.3 rebounds for head coach Steve Lavin. His transfer to the Matadors was expected to help speed up the rebuilding process for second-year head coach Reggie Theus.

    Garrett, a hard-throwing, left-handed pitcher, is currently having a strong summer for the Low-A Dayton Dragons in the Cincinnati Reds organization. His 6-6 record and 3.41 ERA helped fuel this decision.

    Articles, Recruiting

    Thursday saw a slew of commitments in the college basketball world, with USC, Temple, Michigan and Wagner among those landing recruits.

    **Bennie Boatwright, a 6-foot-9 forward from Mission Hills (CA) Village Christian, verbally committed to USC and head coach Andy Enfield. The news was first reported by Scout.com.

    The No. 10 small forward in the 247Sports.com composite rankings in the Class of 2015, Boatwright also considered Arizona State, UCLA, Washington and Oregon, among others, according to reports.

    Boatwright joins power forward Chimezie Metu in USC’s 2015 class. The 6-8 Metu committed in May.

    USC went 11-21 last season and 2-16 in Pac-12 play.

    Articles, USA Basketball

    DurantKevin Durant has informed USA Basketball that he is withdrawing from participating with the 2014 USA National Team and from consideration for the 2014 USA Basketball Men’s World Cup Team roster.

    The USA National Team is scheduled to resume its 2014 preparations for the FIBA Basketball World Cup on Aug. 14 in Chicago.

    “Kevin reached out to Coach K and myself this afternoon and expressed that he is just physically and mentally drained from the NBA season and his attention to his many responsibilities,” USA Basketball Managing Director Jerry Colangelo said.  “He tried to give it a go at our recent Las Vegas training camp but felt coming out of camp that he was not prepared to fulfill the commitment he made to the team.

    Articles, Louisville

    Mitchell LouisvilleDonovan Mitchell is a future Louisville Cardinal.

    Less than a week after cutting his list to five schools, the 6-foot-3 guard from Brewster (N.H.) Academy pulled the trigger for Louisville Thursday while on his official visit.

    “Louisville First – Cardinals Forever!! Let’s bring that national championship back to #CardNation #Louisville,” he Tweeted.

    Evan Daniels of Scout.com previously reported the news.

    Mitchell had recently narrowed his list to include the Cardinals, Villanova, Boston College, Florida State and Providence, but the allure of playing for Hall of Famer Rick Pitino and such a storied program was too much.

    Articles, Recruiting

    By NICK MEDLINE

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    On Wednesday, Reggie Rankin of ESPN moved Keith Stone into the Top-100 rankings.

    Rankin praised Stone’s blend of “size and skill,” with five schools still in contention to land his commitment.

    That race started to take shape: The 6-foot-8 Deerfield Beach (FL) small forward will visit Florida on Aug. 23 and Alabama on Sept. 19. Stone also told SNY.tv on Thursday that he’s planning a trip to South Carolina “soon.”

    Articles

    By JACK LeGWIN

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    Malik Monk visited Kentucky Wednesday, his older brother, Marcus, told SNY.tv.

    “It was a good visit,” Marcus said. “We just toured the campus, watched practice, that was pretty much it.”

    Marcus said that while they did meet with Coach [John] Calipari, he didn’t get too into talking about the future.

    “He didn’t really go into anything too specific,” Marcus said. “It was really the first meeting between the two, so he didn’t go to far in depth about everything. We got to watch practice so it was a good chance to see how he operates. They’re going on their trip to the Bahamas soon, so he was very focused on the team and getting them ready.” 

    Articles


     Battle USAThe Under Armour Elite 24 rosters for the Aug. 23 game in Brooklyn were announced on Wednesday.

    The nation’s top high school basketball players will assemble on at Pier 2 of the Brooklyn Bridge Park and the game will air live on ESPNU at 7PM ET.

    Since its founding, 40 players from the game went on to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft, 24 were selected in the Lottery, and three went on to be drafted number one overall. This year’s game again features some of the most promising young basketball players in the world. 

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