November 2016 | Page 19 of 22 | Zagsblog
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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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Saturday / December 21.
  • Wendell Carter Jr., who this summer won a gold medal with the USA U17 team and was named to the All-Star Five Team at the U17 World Championship in Spain, now plans to sign during the early signing period instead of in the spring.

    The 6-foot-10 Carter Jr. out of Atlanta (GA) Pace Academy is considering Duke, Harvard, Georgia and Georgia Tech, and took his final visit to Georgia Tech this past weekend.

    “I’m going to be signing early,” he told Rivals.com. “I’m just going to put it up on Twitter. I’m going to make a video and put it up on Twitter. I’m not sure when exactly it will be.”

    The early signing period runs Nov. 9-16.

    Duke remains the favorite for Carter Jr., who continues to talk with fellow Class of 2017 star Gary Trent Jr. about playing together in college. Trent Jr. has visited Duke, UCLA and Michigan State and recently said in his USA Today blog that both he and Carter Jr. “loved” their Duke visit — which they took together.

    All Andy Murray needed to do on Saturday to become the new No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player in the world was beat Milos Raonic in the semifinals of the Paris Indoors.

    Raonic made it easy for Murray by withdrawing from the tournament, meaning the Scot advanced to Sunday’s final by walkover.

    After Novak Djokovic lost to Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals on Friday, Murray’s path to No. 1 was set out.

    Now Murray will become the new No. 1 regardless of how he does in Sunday’s final against American John Isner.

    At 29, Murray is the second-oldest to debut at No. 1 behind John Newcombe.

    New Tulane coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. scored a double-double on Friday when he landed a pair of talented African big men from The Patrick School in Hillside, N.J.

    Bul Ajang, 6-foot-9, and Buay Koka, 7-foot, both committed to Tulane following an official visit to campus last week. Both players are originally from South Sudan, and have been in the U.S. for four years.

    “Both Bul Ajang and Buay Koka have committed to Tulane University,” head coach Chris Chavannes told ZAGSBLOG. “They have spent the past four summers playing and training in Mississippi.

    “They enjoyed their visit and Bul Ajang loved their engineering program.  They also like the like the concept of growing with the program. I think it will be a good fit for both boys.  They both have yet to reach their potential.  This will be great for Tulane University.”

    Koran Godwin, an NBA skills trainer originally from New Jersey, worked with both players and the other Patrick School kids this week.

    “I think that both of them coming, [Dunleavy] got two steals, guys that are going to come into your program, work hard and in a couple of years you’re going to be like, ‘Wow,'” he said.

    John Calipari is leaning toward a three-guard lineup at Kentucky.

    And why not?

    The Wildcats, No. 2 in the preseason AP Poll, feature two projected 2017 first-round picks in De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, along with New Jersey native Isaiah Briscoe, a sophomore projected as a second-rounder in 2018 per Draft Express.com.

    “We’re still trying to figure out combinations,” Calipari told reporters Friday. “I’ll do the same thing I did last game, play a lot of combinations. Don’t know if I’ll start three guards. I might start three guards this time, and then figure out some sort of rotation of how we want to do this.”

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