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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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Monday / December 23.
  • Tai WynyardIf you needed any more proof that basketball is truly an international game, consider that Kentucky is hosting a 6-foot-9 prospect from New Zealand and that head coach John Calipari last week watched a 7-footer from Australia.

    Tai Wynyard is a 16-year-old 2016 power forward from New Zealand who is on Kentucky’s campus now, and will trip to Villanova and Texas later this week. Isaac Humphries is the Australian 7-footer whom Calipari saw last week.

    “He is a big, strong kid,” Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com told the Herald-Leader of Wynyard. “He’s very, very mature physically for his age — has really filled out. A lot of European players, people usually think about them as being skinny. He is thick. And he uses that to his advantage. He can go inside and just bully people — he can punish them around the rim because he’s so big and strong. And he’s also a big-time competitor. He’s a hustler.”

    Jaylen BrownJaylen Brown will take his final official visit to Michigan Jan. 24 for the Wisconsin game and will also take an unofficial to Georgia Feb. 17 when they play South Carolina, he says in his USA Today blog.

    As previously reported by SNY.tv, Brown has family connections to Michigan.

    “Next I’m gonna take a visit to Michigan on the 24th,” the 6-foot-7 Marietta (GA) Wheeler wrote. “I’ve got a lot of family up there and so it’s gonna be a little reunion while I’m there. A lot of them went to Michigan and Michigan State so I’m really excited to see the campus and see my people.

    “That’ll be my fifth official visit and I’ll take an unofficial visit to Georgia on the 17th for a game.”

    NCAA Basketball: Villanova at Seton HallIn Joe Lunardi’s latest mock NCAA Tournament bracket on ESPN.com, Villanova has risen to a No.  1 seed and six Big East teams are dancing, as opposed to the eight from a week ago.

    Lunardi’s No. 1s are Kentucky, Virginia, Duke and Villanova, with Wisconsin dropping to a 2 seed following its loss Sunday at Rutgers.

    Gonzaga, Arizona and Kansas are the other 2 seeds.

    Ivan RabbHaving officially visited Arizona earlier this month, Ivan Rabb is now working on visits to UCLA,  Kansas and Cal, his mother told SNY.tv.

    The 6-foot-10 forward out of Oakland (CA) Bishop O’Dowd was to visit UCLA Jan. 31, but that date could shift.

    “We have a tentative date for UCLA on the 31st but we may have to use that date for Kansas due to scheduling issues,” Tami Rabb told SNY.tv.

    Kansas landed 6-8 Ohio forward Carlton Bragg last week, but is still pursuing Rabb.

    NCAA Basketball: Mississippi at KentuckyKentucky remains the No. 1 team in the nation, but they are no longer the unanimous first-place team in the AP Top 25 poll.

    After the unbeaten Wildcats were forced into overtime by both Ole Miss and Texas A&M, two voters chose Virginia as the No. 1 team.

    Kentucky still got 63 of 65 first-place votes.

    Virginia is No. 2, followed by No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 4 Duke and No. 5 Villanova.

    Duke dropped to fourth after losing Sunday to N.C. State.

    Louisville fell to sixth from fifth after falling at North Carolina, and Wisconsin dropped to seventh from fourth after losing at Rutgers.

    Seton Hall remained in the poll at No. 21 while St. John’s dropped out.

    Here is the entire poll:

    1. Kentucky (63) 15-0 1,623 1

    2. Virginia (2) 15-0 1,561 3

    3. Gonzaga 16-1 1,446 6

    mccculloughinjuredSyracuse freshman forward  Chris McCullough suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee and will miss the remainder of the 2014-15 season, the school announced Monday.

    McCullough went down with the injury during the first half of Syracuse’s 70-57 win over Florida State on Sunday night and did not return.

    “You can’t worry about something that you can’t do anything about,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said on the ACC conference call with league coaches, according to Syracuse.com.

    The 6-foot-10 New York City native is averaging 9.3 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Orange. He is projected as the No. 26 pick in the NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com.

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