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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.
  • JaQuan Lyle enjoyed his weekend visit to LSU with Antonio Blakeney and 2015 LSU commit Ben Simmons.

    “It was great, I liked it a lot,” the 6-foot-5 Lyle told SNY.tv by phone Monday morning.

    “The atmosphere at the football game [against Alabama] was crazy so it showed me that the fans are there. There were a lot of fans for the basketball game as well.

    “I just liked the players, they’re real cool. The coaching staff was real cool.  It was just a great family atmosphere there and I liked it a lot.”

    With his college announcement looming in the next few days, Isaiah Briscoe took a visit to St. John’s on Saturday for their 97-71 exhibition win over St. Thomas Aquinas.

    The 6-foot-3 Briscoe called the visit “great” via a text to SNY.tv, adding, “Nice crowd. They really know how to make some noise.”

    The Roselle (N.J.) Catholic point guard is considering St. John’s, Kentucky and UConn and is expected to announce during the early signing period Nov. 12-19, possibly as soon as this week.

    His father, George, told SNY.tv by phone Saturday that no date has been finalized but they hope to announce on ESPNU.

    “It’s a real possibility that it’s going to be on ESPN or it’s going to be at Roselle Catholic [High] School,” George said.

    It’s “nice” to recruit when you’re ranked No. 1 in the country.

    That was the message Kentucky assistant Barry “Slice” Rohrssen had when speaking to reporters Friday.

    “In recruiting these guys, they’ve been very receptive [to the platoon system],” Rohrssen said in advance of Kentucky’s exhibition Sunday against Georgetown College. “It’s nice when you’re ranked No. 1 in the polls. It’s a nice way to have a conversation going into somebody’s home.”

    Those comments seems especially relevant given that Rohrssen has been heavily recruiting Roselle (N.J.) Catholic point guard Isaiah Briscoe in recent days, weeks and months. 

    By ADAM ZAGORIA & CHRIS RUSSELL

    Even as he awaits word on Isaiah Briscoe’s decision and courts the stars of the Class of 2015, Kentucky coach John Calipari is actively recruiting for 2016 and ’17, too.

    On Wednesday, Calipari passed through the DMV to see several players, including 2016 wing V.J. King of Fairfax (VA) Paul VI, 2017 shooting guard D.J. Harvey of Hyattsville (MD) DeMatha Catholic and 2016 combo guard Markelle Fultz of DeMatha. The visits were first reported by Chris Fisher of Catspause.com, and confirmed by the two coaches at the schools.

    “Yeah, he came to see the team and to see V.J.,” Paul VI coach Glen Farello said by phone, adding that King already holds a Kentucky offer.

    “They offered in the summer.”

    SixersYou can tank in a number of ways.

    One is to straight out try and lose basketball games, which I find hard to believe any NBA team is actually doing.

    The other is to purposely construct a roster that is simply incapable of winning many games, thus insuring your team gets a lottery pick.

    The latter appears to be what the Philadelphia 76ers are doing, and have been doing for a couple of years now.

    The Sixers are 0-5, could threaten the NBA record for most losses in a season (9-73)  and have the league’s youngest roster (23.97 years).

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