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.
One of the most interesting questions of the late summer may be this: Where will Rawle Alkins play basketball next season?
The 6-foot-5 Christ the King star may be forced to leave that school and attend a prep school because he played some varsity basketball games as an eighth-grader in Florida, meaning his high school clock in New York City has expired.
“As of right now, I don’t know where I’m going,” Alkins told the Daily News. “I’ve stopped trying to get in contact with (prep schools) and right now I’m just relaxing and focusing on me and my basketball.”
Maverick Rowan is in the process of reclassing to 2015 and will visit St. John’s on Monday, his father confirmed to SNY.tv.
“He is taking classes to graduate,” said Ron Rowan , the player’s father who played with St. John’s coach Chris Mullin in the mid-1980s under legendary coach Lou Carnesecca. “He is coming to New York City to visit St. John’s and then he’s going to the Nike Camp in L.A.”
The 6-foot-7 small forward out of Fort Lauderdale (FL) Cardinal Gibbons had been considering a reclass for some time now.
Maverick Rowan had previously been considering North Carolina, N.C. State,UCLA, St. John’s, Louisville and Wisconsin, but is now down to four schools. The family is not publicly disclosing which four.
Canadian point guard Jamal Murray is reclassifying to 2015 and will announce his college choice this week, a source close to the situation confirmed to SNY.tv.
The source said the 6-foot-5 Murray out of Orangeville Prep (Ontario) is “definitely” down to two schools — Oregon and Kentucky.
Oregon forward Elgin Cook Tweeted that Murray was Oregon’s “newest commit,” although it is unclear what Cook based that Tweet on. Oregon assistant Mike Mennenga has been successful in recruiting other Canadians to Oregon, including Murray’s former CIA Bounce teammate Dillon Brooks and Villanova transfer Dylan Ennis, brother of Milwaukee Bucks point guard Tyler Ennis. Dylan will be immediately eligible at Oregon for the 2015-16 season.
Murray is currently listed as the No. 21 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com, but that’s not good enough for the ultra-competitive point guard.
“I have some work to do, I think I can do a lot better than that,” Murray told SNY.tv recently. “I see no reason why I shouldn’t be there [No. 1] in 2016.”
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Murray recently told SNY.tv that the advantage of reclassing to 2015 would be, “Going to a good university, getting my education and looking forward to the next step.”
Trae Young, a smooth and skilled Class of 2017 point guard out of Norman (OK) North High, visited Duke on Sunday and picked up a scholarship offer.
“Had a Great Unofficial Visit, Beyond Blessed to Receive an Offer from Coach K!” he Tweeted
“I’m heading there [to Duke] with my eyes open to everything and I’m going to listen to everything they have to say,” Young said at the NBPA Top 100 Camp before. “Building a relationship with Coach [Jon] Scheyer and Coach K has been awesome. I’m going to go there and enjoy it and have my eyes open…I’ll be heading there Sunday after camp.”
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Shamorie Ponds, a 6-foot-1 2016 guard out of Brooklyn (N.Y.) Thomas Jefferson, had quite a weekend at the NBPA Top 100 Camp.
After staking his claim as one of the top scorers on the Nike EYBL circuit, where he averaged 17.1 points per game, Ponds finished fourth at the Top 100 camp with an average of 15.1 points per game. He was also interviewed by former Knick forward Amar’e Stoudemire, as seen in this picture.
“It was exciting,” Ponds said of meeting Stoudemire, now with the Mavericks. “He asked me about coming out of Brooklyn and did I have anything to prove coming to this camp. He told me I had an amazing game.
“I just said I wanted to play against the best in the country and show that I’m the best in the country.”
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Junior guard D.J. Harvey is one of the more heavily sought after players in the Class of 2017 and offers have been coming in left and right for the 6-foot-6 guard out of DeMatha High School.
“Oklahoma, Arizona, Arizona State, Duke, Ohio State, Virginia, N.C. State, Miami, Pitt, Texas, Villanova, a lot,” he said. “Yeah, Maryland, they offered me about three weeks ago. I’m pretty close with Georgetown, Arizona, and Virginia just because they tend to reach out to me the most.”
Throughout the NBPA Top 100 camp, Harvey has showcased his sweet stroke and established himself as one of the premier shooting guards in the country.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. — Marques Bolden, a 6-foot-10 Class of 2016 center fromDeSoto (TX) High School, is one of the bigs that has impressed at the NBPA Top 100 Camp.
His list is equally impressive.
“Kansas, Kentucky, Texas, I’ve been talking to a lot Big 12 schools like Baylor and Oklahoma,” said Bolden, ranked the No. 3 center in the Class of 2016 by 247Sports.com.
Bolden has received offers from Duke and Kentucky, his father, Melvin, told SNY.tv.
One of the most interesting questions of the late summer may be this: Where will Rawle Alkins play basketball next season?
