If you believe every crazy rumor you read on the old Interweb, Bob Knight will be the next head coach at Rutgers and Kevin Boyle will come in as an assistant and the coach-in-waiting.

It never ceases to amaze me how something that starts as a post on a messageboard can graduate into a blog post by someone with a first name only before finally landing as a “rumor’ on a legitimate newspaper blog.

While Boyle told me recently he would be interested in coaching at the college level ”if” a job were to open up, there is no hard evidence that I’m aware of that Knight is a feasible candidate should Rutgers AD Tim Pernetti opt to buy out Fred Hill for $1.8 million after this season.

“They gotta be crazy to bring in Bobby Knight,” one prominent Big East assistant coach told me. “It’s like a fish out of water. It’s like when Eddie Sutton went to San Francisco [after coaching at Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State]. Bob Knight coaches at Indiana and Texas Tech, then he goes to Rutgers?” (more…)

A year ago, Roger Federer broke into tears after losing to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final.

This time around, it was Andy Murray who was reduced to tears after Federer beat him, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11) to win his fourth Australian Open title and 16th career Grand Slam.

“I can cry like Roger. I just can’t play like him,” said Murray, a Scot who fought off two match points before netting a backhand on the third championship point in the tiebreak.

Before the final, Federer had joked that no Brit had won a major in “150,000 years.” Actually, the drought is 74 years, dating back to Fred Perry in 1936. (more…)

NEW YORK – After a whirlwind trip to Arizona earlier this week, Kadeem Jack finally got enough rest Friday night.

He slept until 1 on Saturday afternoon and then came to play in the SNY Invitational championship game.

The 6-foot-9 Jack capped a comeback from 19 points down in the third quarter by draining two clutch foul shots in the final seconds of overtime and then blocking a shot on the defensive end to lead Rice to a thrilling 63-58 victory over Cardozo at Long Island University-Brooklyn.

Read the full story here.

**And click here to read about how Mike Taylor, Antione Slaughter and Boys & Girls downed Villanova-bound Achraf Yacoubou and Long Island Lutheran in the consolation game.

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.

NEW YORK — Kadeem Jack woke up at 5 a.m. Arizona time, boarded a 7 o’clock flight and landed at Kennedy International Airport at 5 p.m.

After taking a two-day official visit to the Arizona campus, the 6-foot-9, 210-pound senior was on the basketball court at Long Island University-Brooklyn by 8 p.m.

He still had enough energy to throw down a monstrous two-handed dunk in the final minutes as Rice, the top Catholic League team in New York City, beat Boys & Girls, the top public school program, 56-44, in the 3rd Annual SNY Invitational.

“I’m exhausted,” said Jack, who put up 12 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks in front of assistant coaches from Miami and Providence. “I just had to come out and play my best and I think played better the second half.”

Read the full story here.

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.

The Knicks could be without not one, but two forwards for Saturday’s game in Washington.

Jared Jeffries underwent an MRI on his right knee Friday morning that revealed a bone bruise. He is questionable for the Wizards game.

Al Harrington has a sore left knee and is also questionable.

Jeffries left the first quarter of New York’s 106-104 loss to Toronto Thursday night. (more…)

Kadeem Jack enjoyed his Arizona visit and is flying back to New York Friday afternoon to compete in the SNY Invitational at LIU-Brooklyn.

“It was great,” the 6-foot-9 Rice High School senior said by phone from the airport. “We saw the campus. We went to the [Stanford] game [won by Arizona, 76-68, on Thursday]. I stayed in the locker room with the players.”

Arizona features two New York-area players in Lamont “Momo” Jones and Kevin Parrom.

“I didn’t really know them but we got a chance to talk a little bit. We bonded a little bit,” said Jack, who visited with his mother, Louisa Hall.

“They said it’s a great school. It will be a great environment for me to come to even though it’s a little far.” (more…)

NEW YORK (NBA.com exclusive) — Chris Bosh on Thursday was named a reserve for the NBA All-Star Game in Dallas and David Lee was left off the team.

Part of the rationale for excluding Lee despite his gaudy statistics seemed to be that the Knicks are under .500, while the Raptors have a winning mark.

As if to drive that point home, Bosh put up 27 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Raptors to a 106-104 victory over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

“I’ve been in that [losing record] situation before,” Bosh said. “I think they probably gave Al [Horford of the Atlanta Hawks] the slight go-ahead but they’re two fantastic players and the sad thing about it is somebody had to be left out and unfortunately it was David. But he’s having a very good career and I hope that doesn’t take anything from what he’s done so far.”

Read the full story at NBA.com.

(Photo courtesy AP)

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.

Now that top-ranked Kentucky has dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten, there will be a new No. 1 team in the land next Monday.

Along with No. 2 Kansas, two Big East teams — No. 3 Villanova and No. 4 Syracuse — are in the mix to take over the top spot in the wake of Kentucky’s loss Tuesday at South Carolina.

“After watching Villanova against us in the second half get into that rhythm, they would get my vote,” said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, whose team was beaten by the Wildcats, 90-72, on Wednesday.

“I would be a little partial to Syracuse because of the way they’ve dominated every team they’ve played,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. “To me, on a neutral floor, they would be favored over anybody.”

Read the full story here.

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.

David Lee won’t be the Knicks first All-Star since Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell in 2001.

Despite averaging 19.4 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, Lee wasn’t selected as a reserve for next month’s All-Star Game in Dallas.

“It’s out of my control, and coach always tells me to try to control things that I can control. I think the overall message was that nobody was taken off a team with a sub-.500 record. So that means one thing: we have to get some more victories,” Lee said Thursday before the Knicks met Toronto at MSG.

(more…)

Brooklyn’s Lance Stephenson was named the Big East Preseason Rookie of the Year, and Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin says Stephenson is on track to win that award.

The 6-foot-5 Stephenson, New York State’s all-time leading scorer, is averaging a team-best 12.2 points and 4.8 rebounds for the Bearcats (13-7, 4-4 Big East).

“He’s had a good year,” Cronin said. “I think for a freshman he’s had a great year. You can’t compare people to John Wall or Michael Beasley but Lance has had a very good year. I’d probably say if the voting were taken right now he’d probably be Freshman of the Year in the Big East. You can’t live up to ridiculous expectations that other people set forth for you.” (more…)