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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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Thursday / December 12.
  • By DENNIS CHAMBERS

    GLENDALE, Ariz. — The final stage of this college basketball season is bringing in a slew of firsts for most of those involved.

    This edition of the Final Four features just one program with championship head coaching experience. That distinction belongs to blue-blood North Carolina and their lead man Roy Williams. Through his time at Chapel Hill, and previously at Kansas, Williams has made it to nine different Final Fours, winning championships in 2005 and 2009.

    After that, though, Mark Few, Frank Martin, and Dana Altman combine for a whopping zero coaching appearances during college basketball’s final two contests. In fact, the programs they represent — Gonzaga, South Carolina, and Oregon, respectively — have just one Final Four appearance between them, Oregon’s 1939 championship during the inaugural NCAA event. In comparison, this latest trip marks the 20th time North Carolina has been one of the final four teams remaining.

    NEW YORK — During Roselle Catholic’s drive to the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title in 2015, one of Isaiah Briscoe’s favorite plays was to throw the ball off the backboard for Chris Silva to dunk.

    Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff remembers that Briscoe loved the play so much, they did it in the sectional final that year.

    “In the history of New Jersey basketball, I don’t know if anyone has ever completed more off-the-backboard, alley-oop dunks than Chris and Isaiah did that year,” Boff said. “I think they did 10 or 11 that year. They were so comfortable with Isaiah throwing the ball off the backboard to Chris as the trailer, they actually did it in the sectional final in a tie game with two minutes left to go that gave us the lead [against Trenton Catholic]. We were coming back from 22 points down and the basket that gave us the lead which we never gave back was a two-on-one fastbreak where Isaiah threw it off the backboard for Chris for a dunk.”

    By PETE IACOBELLI

    (AP) — Suspended South Carolina guard Sindarius Thornwell was arrested for possession of marijuana and driving with a suspended license last May, according to an incident report from the Cayce Department of Public Safety.

    Thornwell was booked into the Lexington County Detention Center and paid a fine, according to the department.

    Thornwell, the Gamecocks’ leading scorer and rebounder over their first six games, was suspended indefinitely by coach Frank Martin on Dec. 4 for violating athletic department policy. Martin has said he will not detail Thornwell’s transgression, calling it a “mental mistake.”

    The Post and Courier of Charleston first reported Thornwell’s arrest.

    A team spokeswoman said Tuesday nothing had changed with Thornwell’s suspension and would not say if the arrest figured into the discipline.

    The 16th-ranked Gamecocks (8-1) lost 67-64 to Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.

    Thornwell, from Lancaster, was seen making an aggressive lane change while driving in Cayce not far from campus on May 22, according to the report. The officer who stopped Thornwell said he found his driving privileges in South Carolina were suspended for two failure to pay traffic offenses.

    The officer said in the report he detected the odor of marijuana in the car and uncovered “two blunts.”

    Martin said last week that Thornwell would return to the court, but did not say when. He has continued to practice and travel with the team.

    Thornwell had averaged 18.7 points and 6.7 rebounds this season, helping South Carolina to victories over then No. 25 Michigan and No. 18 Syracuse in a four-day stretch last month. The Gamecocks rose to 16th this week in the Top 25 for their highest ranking in 18 years.

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