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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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Sunday / December 22.
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    • Articles

    Tevin Mack is off the board to VCU.

    The 6-foot-6 2015 wing out of Columbia (S.C.) Dreher also considered UConn, Georgia, South Carolina and Clemson.

    He is ranked the No. 12 small forward in the Class of 2015 by 247Sports composite rankings, and is the No. 2 player in South Carolina behind P.J. Dozier, who committed to South Carolina on Wednesday.

    “It was a tough choice. I turned down a lot of great schools,” Mack told John Whittle of 247 Sports. “It was the little stuff that set VCU apart. I felt more comfortable there and it was really about my comfort level. I liked all the schools, all the coaches were real good people, but I just liked VCU better. (Shaka Smart) is a great coach. The system they run fits my game. They get out and run, shoot a lot of shots and get out on defense, too.”

    Articles, St. John's

    NCAA Basketball: Big East Tournament-Providence vs St JohnsSometime after 6 p.m. Eastern tonight, Isaiah Briscoe will sit in an ESPN studio in Bristol, Conn., and announce where he plans to play college basketball.

    Somewhere in New York City, St. John’s coach Steve Lavin — who is in the fifth year of a six-year deal — will have just about everything on the line.

    Of the three schools the 6-foot-3 Roselle (N.J.) Catholic point guard is considering — St. John’s, Kentucky and UConn — no school has more invested — and more at stake — than St. John’s.

    If Briscoe picks the Johnnies, “it means that within the shadow of New York City, he’ll probably be the highest-profile guy that they’ve gotten in their immediate recruiting area in a long, long time,” longtime New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski told me over the phone Wednesday. “It gives them more recruiting credibility, No. 1. And he obviously is a very talented player.

    “He’s much more of a critical recruit for St. John’s than for Kentucky. At Kentucky, he’s just another outstanding player, of which they have so many.”

    Articles, Roselle Catholic

    Briscoe signingIsaiah Briscoe has made up his mind on where he will attend college, but won’t sign a National Letter of Intent this fall.

    “In the spring,” he told SNY.tv of when he will sign an NLI.

    Briscoe’s Roselle Catholic teammates Chris Silva, at left in this picture taken by Josh Newman, signed an NLI to South Carolina Wednesday, while Pierre Sarr signed to Monmouth.

    The 6-foot-3 Briscoe, meantime, is set to announce Thursday evening on ESPNU and will announce for Kentucky, St. John’s or UConn.

    “Probably in the past couple days,” Briscoe told Jeremy Schneider of NJ Advance Media about when his decision came. “My dad came home this week. He took off from work and we’ve just been talking, pointing out the pros and cons of each school. We finally came up to an agreement on my decision.”

    Articles, UConn

    SMU-UConnAthlon Sports on Wednesday published a list entitled, “The Top 50 College Basketball Coaches for 2014-15.”

    On that list, Larry Brown of SMU was ranked No. 29 and Kevin Ollie of UConn No. 30.

    All of which begs the question, “What are they smoking at Athlon Sports?”

    Larry Brown, 29th?

    Kevin Ollie, 30th?

    Between them, the two men have won two NCAA championships (including last year’s) and one NBA title.

    Articles

    Confirming what he earlier told Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com in this column, Memphis-based AAU coach Keith Easterwood told SNY.tv that Gerald Hamilton, the guardian for five-star prospect Skal Labissiere, wanted to profit off the young man’s basketball skills.

    “Gerald started calling me 10 years ago asking me for money to bring basketball players over here,” Easterwood said Wednesday by phone.

    “At the time, I got so many calls from idiots like that that I really just ignored it. But he would be persistent in calling.”

    Easterwood said he hasn’t spoken to Hamilton for six months but said the situation was well known in basketball circles and that Hamilton had made his intentions known to college coaches and agents.

    Parrish and ESPN’s Jeff Goodman also reported that the NCAA has begun to build a file on the 6-foot-11 Labissiere, although an NCAA source was unable to confirm that to SNY.tv.

    Articles

    DozierSouth Carolina scored a major coup Wednesday by keeping 2015 guard P.J. Dozier at home.

    “South Carolina wouldn’t be in the mix if I didn’t feel that they had the coaches and the players to do so [win], so I’m definitely excited to play along with them and try to get this thing going,” he said after slipping on a Gamecocks hat at Columbia (S.C.) Spring Valley High School.

    The 6-foot-7 Dozier, ranked No. 24 nationally by 247Sports.com and No. 33 by Scout.com, also considered Louisville, North Carolina, Georgetown and Michigan.

    His father and uncle both played at South Carolina, and now he follows suit.

    “All the coaches did a great job recruiting,” Dozier said. “None of them were really better than the other. I think when it came down to it, it was just how I felt.”

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