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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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    • Kentucky, Recruiting

    R.J. Barrett, the No. 1 prospect in the 2019 class, began to hear from colleges at midnight on Wednesday.

    And predictably a Who’s Who of Division 1 programs reached out.

    Arizona, UCLA, USC, Kentucky, Texas, Kansas, UNLV, South Carolina, Illinois, Duke, Oregon and Michigan all reached out.

    The 6-foot-6 Barrett is considering reclassifying to 2018, which would make him eligible for the 2019 NBA Draft.

    “Right now, I don’t know,” Barrett told ZAGSBLOG recently when asked about joining the Class of 2018. “Right now I’m still 2019 and I will make a decision in August.”

    N.C. State, NBA Draft

    N.C. State point guard Dennis Smith Jr. held a Pro Day at his old school on Thursday and six NBA teams attended.

    The Knicks attended the workout, as did Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Miami and Minnesota.

    From there, Smith Jr. left Friday morning for Boston where he was slated to meet with Celtics GM Danny Ainge, a source told ZAGSBLOG.

    Ange attended N.C. State’s walk through for their game at Boston College in January and also attended a game in Raleigh.

    The Celtics own the No. 1 pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft and have been heavily linked to Washington guard Markelle Fultz.

    Smith Jr. also worked out for the Lakers last week and had dinner with Phil Jackson of the Knicks but did not workout, as FanRagSports.com first reported.

    His longtime trainer, Shawn Farmer, said that Smith Jr. would love the chance to play with Carmelo Anthony.

    “Oh my God, he would love the chance to play with a guy like a Melo,” Farmer told FanRagSports.com. “Those guys are proven, USA (Basketball), Olympic players, I think he would mesh well. And Junior wants to learn now, too. He doesn’t just want to go in and think he knows everything. He wants to get up under those guys’ wing and learn from those guys.”

    Knicks

    CAMDEN, N.J. — The Golden State Warriors may be scaring the rest of the NBA with the way they space the floor and snipe from downtown, but the Knicks are still emphasizing the old triangle offense.

    Just ask a couple of former Oregon players who recently worked out for Phil Jackson’s club.

    “The Knicks, oh yeah, they actually went through the triangle probably 45 [minutes] to an hour,” former Oregon and Villanova guard Dylan Ennis said Thursday at the Philadelphia 76ers workout facility. “They did progressions to it, but it’s an offense that works and I picked it up real fast. That’s what they liked about me. That’s what a six-year guard will do, man. You give me an offense, I’ll pick it up real fast.”

    Louisville

    By GARY B. GRAVES

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The NCAA didn’t feel Louisville went far enough with its self-imposed sanctions following a sex scandal investigation, so the governing body Thursday handed down a few more.

    An outraged Rick Pitino feels the NCAA went too far.

    After completing its investigation of Katina Powell’s allegations that she and other escorts were hired to have sex parties and strip for Louisville recruits and players, antics the NCAA described as “repugnant,” it benched the Cardinals men’s basketball coach for five games and imposed several other penalties.

    Pitino’s suspension is less than Jim Boeheim and Larry Brown recently received for NCAA violations.

    Recruiting

    By MATT WHITFIELD

    CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Ranney School has two of the nation’s most sought after players in the Class of 2019 in shooting guard Scottie Lewis and combo guard Bryan Antoine.

    The 6-foot-5 Lewis is ranked No. 5 by Scout.com, while the 6-4 Antoine is No. 10.

    Both are attending the NBA Top 100 Camp this week and heard from a slew of high-major programs at midnight on Thursday, when college coaches could begin calling.

    Duke, Florida, Maryland, UConn, St. John’s, Rutgers and Stanford all reached out, with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski calling Antoine on Thursday. Antoine also Tweeted out that Duke, Florida, St. John’s and Maryland had reached out.

    The duo talked their summer, their recruitment, and the possibility of playing together at the next level.

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