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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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Tuesday / March 19.
  • Full Steam Ahead for Irving; Harris Enjoys UT

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    Kyrie Irving has now completed two official visits and still plans to take the three others he initially planned.

    After a weekend official to Texas A&M in which the Aggies lost to Oklahoma State 36-31 in football, Irving texted me Sunday to say, “It was good. I really enjoyed it.”

    The 6-foot-2 Irving, a senior point guard at Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick, said he still planned to visit Kentucky next weekend for Big Blue Madness.

    “Yes,” he said.

    He will be reportedly be joined on that visit by a Who’s Who of recruits including Tobias Harris, Michael Gilchrist and Achraf Yacoubou.

    After Kentucky are planned visits to Georgia Tech (Oct. 23) and Seton Hall (Oct. 30).

    Irving visited Duke first the weekend of Sept. 25 and then was quoted as saying he was “leaning” toward Duke.

    Stay tuned tomorrow as I hope to have a further update from Kyrie.

    HARRIS ENJOYS UT

    Tobias Harris also took his second official this weekend to Tennessee…and ran into an unexpected visitor along the way.

    “The visit to Tennessee went well,” said Torrel Harris, Tobias’ father. “We met Bernard King, who was staying at our hotel. Bernard was attending a conference and we had the opportunity to speak with him about a lot of things. It was great speaking with one of the greatest forwards who played the game.

    “We talked about hard work, preparation and some of his experiences playing basketball.” 

    On Saturday, Tobias and Torrel watched Tennessee rout Georgia 45-19 in football before 103,261.

    “I didn’t know Tennessee had it going on like that,” Torrel said in reference to the crowd.

    After that, the family met with the Dean of Business and learned about the business school requirements.

    Tobias watched the basketball team run and heard head coach Bruce Pearl talk about how he developed Tyler Smith as a point-forward type of player.

    “He utilized Tyler Smith that way,” Torrel said. “We  hung out with the players.”

    Tennessee fans also painted a huge rock on campus with a “T Harris No. 31” jersey and the words “The Future.”

    The 6-foot-8 Harris, the No. 5 prospect in the Class of 2010 out of Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West, visited Syracuse two weeks ago for his first official and will hit Kentucky for Big Blue Madness Oct. 16.

    After that will come visits to Louisville, West Virginia, Georgia Tech and Maryland.

    “We ‘re going to get them all before Nov. 18,” Torrel said.

    (Photos courtesy Irving Family, Kelly Kline, AP)

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    Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.

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