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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 14.
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    • Duke

    (AP) — Duke is in a familiar place to open the college basketball season.

    The Blue Devils are the runaway choice for No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason Top 25 on Monday. It is the eighth time Duke has held the preseason No. 1 ranking. North Carolina has the most preseason No. 1s with nine and UCLA also has eight.

    Duke was also the No. 1 pick in the USA Today/Coaches’ Poll.

    The Blue Devils, who return three starters from last season’s team and have what is considered one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, received 58 of the 65 first-place votes from the national media panel.

    Kentucky, which had two No. 1 votes, is second, while Kansas is third. Defending national champion Villanova had four first-place votes and was fourth while Oregon, which had the other No. 1 vote, is fifth.

    Duke, Recruiting

    Kevin Knox enjoyed his weekend official visit to Duke and is still planning a winter decision.

    “It was real good,” the 6-foot-8 Class of 2017 small forward from Tampa (FL) Catholic and E1T1 said. “They have coached a lot of people that play like me, so that’s basically their message.”

    Knox said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff compared him to former Duke great Grant Hill and current Pacers star Paul George, whom Coach K coached with the gold medal-winning Olympic team. Knox is currently projected as the No. 10 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft per DraftExpress.com.

    Duke was Knox’s first official visit — and the only one prior to the NCAA early signing period Nov. 9-16.

    Breaking News, Duke

    Duke announced Wednesday that freshman Jayson Tatum suffered a left foot sprain during its Pro Day on Tuesday.

    The anticipated recovery time for this injury is two weeks. Tatum will not play in Duke’s exhibition games against Virginia State on Oct. 28 and Augustana on Nov. 4.

    “This is the best possible news,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “It is a manageable injury that will not impact Jayson long-term. We look forward to having him back very soon.”

    Duke opens the regular season when it hosts Marist on Nov. 11 as part of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off.

    Duke is already without star forward Harry Giles after he recently underwent a third knee surgery. Giles is expected to miss the Blue Devils’ season-opener Nov 11 against Marist and their game against Kansas Nov. 15 in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden.

    Duke, Recruiting

    Duke hosted a trio of bigtime Class of 2017 targets on Saturday night for “Countdown to Craziness” in point guard Matt Coleman, shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. and big man Wendell Carter Jr. All three went and sat with the Cameron Crazies at one point.

    The 6-foot-5 Trent Jr., out of Prolific Prep (CA), and the 6-10 Carter Jr., out of Pace Academy (GA), have long talked about a possible package deal.

    “A package deal is still the plan,” Carter Jr. told ZAGSBLOG this summer at the Adidas Nations event here, reiterating comments Trent Jr. made earlier this month at Peach Jam.

    Duke, Recruiting

    Matt Coleman, the 6-foot-1, 174-pound point guard from Oak Hill (VA) Academy, met this week with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and is focusing on four schools.

    Coleman has taken officials to Duke (Sept. 16) and Stanford (Sept. 30) and will next hit Texas the weekend of Oct. 28. His visit to Kansas for this coming weekend was postponed by a scrimmage, and he has no plans to make it up.

    “It’s Stanford, Duke, Texas and Kansas,” Coleman said Thursday by phone of the schools on his list. “I will not be taking the Kansas visit this weekend. Time didn’t permit me to. I didn’t reschedule it yet.”

    Coach K met with Coleman on Tuesday to show his level of interest.

    Duke

    Duke is the favorite to win the NCAA championship and junior guard Grayson Allen is favored to win AP National Player of the Year honors, according to Bovada.lv.

    Led by Allen and a crew of stud freshmen including Jayson Tatum, Harry Giles, Frank Jackson and Marques Bolden, Duke faces odds of 4/1 to win the national championship in Glendale, Az. Kentucky follows at 15/2 with Kansas and reigning NCAA champion Villanova at 10/1. Arizona, which also has several elite freshmen in Kobi Simmons and Rawle Alkins, is next at 14/1.

    Allen, who leads the AP odds at 6/1, opted to return to Duke for his junior season after he could have declared for the NBA Draft last year. He’s currently projected at No. 25 by DraftExpress.com.

    Copyright 2016 Zagsblog. Partner of iOne Digital / Cassius Network
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