After his 22-point, 17-rebound, 7-assist performance in West Virginia’s 90-84 OT victory over Seton Hall Saturday, Devin Ebanks was named the Big East Player of the Week.

The 6-foot-8, 205-pound Ebanks, who sat out the first three games of the season because of “personal” reasons, averaged 18 points and 15 boards in wins over Mississippi and Seton Hall for the unbeaten Mountaineers.

“I told him the other day he had 14 points and 13 rebounds. If he had thrown the ball out of bounds three more times he would have had a triple double. I’ve been on him about taking care of the ball and he did that [against Seton Hall],” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said, according to Jerry Carino of Gannett New Jersey.

Ebanks is expected to jump to the NBA after this, his sophomore season, and Pirates coach Bobby Gonzalez told Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com that he’d take the Long Island City, N.Y. native 2nd or 3rd. (more…)

The lastest National Prep Poll is out and Kevin Boyle’s St. Patrick Celtics (3-0) are No. 2 behind top-ranked Ohio State-bound Jared Sullinger and Columbus (Ohio) Northland (3-0).

Northland handed Findlay Prep, the reigning high school national champ, its lone loss of the season.

Oak Hill (16-0) and once-beaten Findlay (Nev. ) Prep (16-1) are 3-4, respectively.

Damon Wright’s Paterson Catholic club moved from No. 23 to No. 8 after winning the City of Palms Classic behind 17 points from Seton Hall-bound forward Fuquan Edwin.

Dan Hurley’s St. Benedict’s team (5-1), which came in 3rd at City of Palms, is No. 15, meaning three of the top 15 teams are from within a 15-mile radius in New Jersey.

Speaking of the Hurleys, check out Bob and Dan coaching their respective teams Jan. 24  in the Izod High School Showcase at Caldwell College. 

Noon: St. John Vianney vs. Immaculata

2 p.m.: Long Branch vs. St. Benedict’s

4 p.m.: Blair Academy vs. NIA Prep

6 p.m.: Christian Brothers Academy vs. St. Anthony

**For the complete and updated ZAGSBLOG high school hoops calendar, click here.

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Da’Sean Butler spurned both Rutgers and Seton Hall four years ago coming out of Bloomfield (N.J.) Tech High School because coaching changes at the two New Jersey schools made his recruiting status there uncertain.

On Saturday he returned to his hometown of Newark, N.J. and helped No. 6 West Virginia down Seton Hall 90-84 in overtime at the Prudential Center in the first Big East game of what should be a competitive and exciting season.

“My mom and dad were there,” Butler, who scored six of his 21 points in the extra period and added 6 rebounds on the game, said by phone. “It was good to see everybody. I only had 10 tickets but I easily had 30 people there to see me.”

The game was nationally televised on CBS and gave the rest of the country a chance to see just how tough undefeated West Virginia (10-0, 1-0 Big East) could be this season.

“It’s a very big win,” the 6-foot-7,-230-pound Butler said. “It’s our first conference win. It’s very important for the school. It’s gives the school prestige and recognition.” (more…)

The Big East will tip off what should be an interesting campaign this Saturday with Bob Huggins and his West Virginia Mountaineers visiting Bobby Gonzalez  and the Seton Hall Pirates at the Prudential Center.

The Mounties are 9-0 after knocking off No. 15 Ole Miss 76-66 on Wednesday, while the Pirates are 9-1 after Tuesday’s 94-56 victory over Navy.

With the games about to begin, here are some pressing questions facing the conference’s teams:

1. Who wins the Big East?

At this point it seems like four teams have established themselves as the class of the conference. Syracuse (12-0), West Virginia (9-0), Villanova (11-1) and Georgetown (9-1) are a combined 41-2…so who wins?

THE PICK: Syracuse. The Orange own the league’s most impressive victory so far, a thrashing of defending NCAA champion North Carolina at Madison Square Garden. With talent inside (Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson) , outside (Scoop Jardine, Brandon Triche and Andy Rautins) and perhaps the league’s most talented player in Wesley Johnson, the Orange are the team to beat.

2. How many teams make the Big Dance?

You figure the above four teams are pretty much a lock to make it, and we’ll throw UConn into that mix as well. Then come a whole bunch of teams in the middle who have a real shot if they can pile up enough wins: Seton Hall (9-1), Notre Dame (11-2), Pitt (10-2), St. John’s (more…)

BIG EAST Player of the Week
DOMINIQUE JONES, USF, G, Jr.
Jones averaged 22.7 points and 4.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.7 steals in a 3-0 week for the Bulls that included a pair of wins in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic. The junior began the week with a 27-point outing in a 69-65 win over Central Florida. He continued his stong play in Las Vegas with a 23-point effort in 69-49 victory over San Francisco. Jones scored 18 points in a 69-60 triumph over San Diego.

BIG EAST Rookie of the Week
MAALIK WAYNS, Villanova, G, Fr.
Wayns contibuted 12 points, three rebounds and two assists in a 96-58 victory over Fordham in the Wildcats’ only game of the week. He made five of his eight field goal attempts.
BIG EAST Honor Roll
Stanley Robinson, Connecticut, F, Sr.
Scored 23 of his 26 points in the second half in a 60-51 win over Central Florida. He shot 9-of-13 from the fl oor and grabbed fi ve rebounds.
Edgar Sosa, Louisville, G, Sr.
Averaged 17.5 points, 5.0 assists and shot 54.2 percent from the field in victories over Oral Roberts (94-57) and Western Kentucky (102-75).

Luke Harangody, Notre Dame, F, Sr.
Scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds in an 84-73 victory over UCLA.

Hamady Ndiaye, Rutgers, C, Sr.
Averaged 10.0 points, 12.0 boards and 7.5 blocks in a 2-0 week that included an win over Rider (80-70 ot) and a victory over NJIT (71-62).

D.J. Kennedy, St. John’s, G/F, Jr.
Posted 19 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots in a 72-60 win against Hofstra in the fi rst round of the MSG Holiday Festival.

(photo courtesy USF Athletics)

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Ater Majok is a 6-foot-10 forward who just joined Jim Calhoun’s rotation at UConn and could make a major impact during the second half of the season.

His cousin, Majok Majok, is a 6-8 1/2, 230-pound senior big man with a 7-2 wingspan who plays for John Carroll at Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.).

Paterson (N.J.) Catholic scored its biggest victory in recent memory Wednesday night when it beat Austin Rivers and Winter Park (Fla.), 62-54, to win the 37th annual City of Palms Classic at Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers, Fla.

Trailing 51-50, the Cougars closed the game on a 12-3 run, getting four points from sophomore Kyle Anderson, who hit two clutch free throws to put PC up 60-52, and four points from Seton Hall-bound forward Fuquan Edwin (pictured courtesy news-press.com), who stuffed home a massive dunk to give PC a 62-52 lead.

Edwin finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals and junior point guard Myles Mack was named the ESPNU Player of the Game after finishing with 15 points, including 3 of 6 from beyond the arc.

6-foot-5 senior guard Jayon James added 11 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds while playing tough defense on Rivers down the stretch and th 6-7 Anderson added 6 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. 

The undefeated Cougars (4-0) beat Bob Hurley’s St. Anthony team last year in the Non-Public Group B playoffs and reached the New Jersey Tournament of Champions final with Tim Thomas in 1994, but this may well have been their biggest victory on a national stage. The Cougars hadn’t even played in the City of Palms event since Thomas was on the team in ’95.

“It means a lot,” Edwin said in a phone interview after the game. “Just coming here, there was a lot of nationally ranked teams here and we came here to ball out and we played hard and we got the win.

“We’re going to eat at Taco Bell,” he added. (more…)

Paterson Catholic on Wednesday will have its biggest chance to make a statement on the national stage since perhaps the Tim Thomas Era.

The Cougars will meet junior guard Austin Rivers (pictured courtesy MaxPreps) and Winter Park for the championship of the City of Palms Classic. The game will be shown at 9:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

Paterson CAtholic advanced with a wild 63-51 semifinal victory over Montverde Academy Tuesday night.

According to New-press.com, Montverde led 47-46 with 0.1 seconds left on the clock when its bench was given a technical foul for excessive on-court celebrating.

PC junior guard Myles Mack made 1 of 2 foul shots to force overtime and the Cougars outscored Monteverde 16-4 in the OT. (more…)

Rutgers junior All-America offensive tackle Anthony Davis of Piscataway is holding a press conference Tuesday at noon at which he is expected to announce his intentions to leave for the NFL, multiple outlets reported.

Two sources told Joe Schad of ESPN.com that the 6-foot-6, 330-pound Davis plans to declare for the draft and that he is projected as  a first-round pick and a potential top-10 selection. ESPN’s Todd McShay has him going as high as No. 9.

Davis helped the Scarlet Knights finish 9-4 with a 45-24 victory over Central Florida in the St. Petersburg Bowl.

(Photo courtesy ScarletKnights.com)

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