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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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Friday / November 22.
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    • Articles, Texas

    Tevin Mack will stick with coach Shaka Smart after all.

    The 6-foot-6 2015 wing out of Columbia (S.C.) Dresser picked Texas over Georgia and Clemson on Tuesday afternoon.

    He will join guards Eric Davis and Kerwin Roach Jr. in Texas’ 2015 class.

    Smart had initially secured a commitment from Mack at VCU last November, and now will coach him at Texas.

    “We’re extremely excited about adding Tevin to our program,” Smart said. “He is someone we’ve been able to develop a strong relationship with over the past two years. (Assistant coach) Mike Morrell did a great job in identifying Tevin during the summer after his sophomore year. Since then, Tevin has gotten better and better.

    Articles, Purdue

    Caleb Swanigan

    Caleb Swanigan is headed to the Big Ten, but not to Michigan State.

    The 6-foot-8 2015 center from Fort Wayne (IN) Homestead High committed to Purdue on Tuesday after decommitting from Michigan State.

    “He won a state championship in high school, he’s Indiana Mr. Basketball and he felt like with what Purdue has coming back, he would get a chance to possibly win a national championship for the state of Indiana at a school that had never done it before, which is one of the reasons why he chose the high school that he went to,” Roosevelt Barnes, Swanigan’s father, told SNY.tv by phone. “That’s why he chose Purdue and he feels like Matt Painter is a good coach.”

    Tennis

    SerenaWhen the French Open begins on Sunday, 33-year-old Serena Williams will open as the No. 1 seed and clear favorite to win her 20th Grand Slam singles title.

    Williams, who owns two Roland Garros crowns, surpassed Hall of Famers Martina Navratilova and Chrissie Evert on the all-time list by winning the Australian Open in January. Serena is now tied at 19 Majors with Helen-Wills Moody.

    Next up is Steffi Graf at 22, followed by the all-time leader Margaret Court at 24.

    Navratilova told the Tennis Podcast that “it is possible” that she could pass Court’s 24, but also warned that Williams’ journey from 19 titles to 25 will be a very difficult.

    Articles, Kansas

    cliff-alexanderCHICAGO — There was a time, not so long ago, when Cliff Alexander was a projected lottery pick in the NBA Draft.

    As late as last July, the 6-foot-8 power forward was ranked by DraftExpress.com as the No. 2 pick in this draft behind only Duke’s Jahlil Okafor.

    By November, he had fallen to No. 10.

    By February, he was at No. 17.

    In March, after he stopped playing during his freshman year at Kansas as the NCAA investigated his mother’s ties to a financial firm specializing in pre-draft loans for athletes, he fell to No. 31.

    Kentucky, Recruiting

    Here’s my interview on Jamal Murray with Tom Leach:

    14287982532As of Monday night, Canadian point guard Jamal Murray of Orangeville Prep (Ontario) is on an official visit to Kentucky, his father told SNY.tv.

    Kentucky and Oregon are among the schools working hard to land Murray.

    “We’re taking a couple visits, I’m not sure the date yet or exactly how we’re going to do it but we’ll be taking some visits for sure,” Roger Murray recently told SNY.tv.

    Larry Blunt, the Orangeville Prep coach, raved about Jamal Murray’s skill set.

    “He’s a walking triple-double with size like Jason Kidd but a much better scorer,” Blunt told SNY.tv. “He’s super competitive with a will to win like Mike [Jordan] and Kobe [Bryant]. He does not like to lose anything. Video games, kick ball, checkers, chess, class. Jamal wants to win in everything. He’s hyper-competitive.”

    The 6-foot-5 Murray could have visited Kentucky recently during the Nike EYBL stop in Lexington, but ended up not making the trip with CIA Bounce. 

    Kentucky, Recruiting

    4_3157263Jonathan Isaac had quite a day on Monday.

    A 6-foot-9, 17-year old small forward from Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy who may still grow to 7-feet, Isaac picked up scholarship offers from Kentucky, Louisville and Pitt, IMG coach John Mahoney confirmed to SNY.tv.

    “[Coach John Calipari] said there’s a home for me there and if I’m trying to go to the next level then that is the place,” Isaac told SNY.tv.

    Corey Evans first reported it, adding that prior to Monday he held offers from Florida State, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech

    Isaac models his game after Kevin Durant and wants to perfect his guard skills.

    “I’m just trying to work on guard skills,” Isaac told SNY.tv by phone on Thursday. “I don’t want to go into college thinking I’m a stretch four. I want to be a guard when I go to college.”

    “He hasn’t narrowed his list,” Mahoney told SNY.tv recently. “We’re going to try to trim his list down soon. We counted 30 some schools have been calling and writing and coming to see him practice. I know he doesn’t want to put 10 schools and then all of a sudden people think that’s his 10.”

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