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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 / March 28.
  • Mohammed BambaMohamed Bamba wanted a Duke offer — and now he has one.

    The 6-foot-11 2017 star out of Westtown (Pa.) School and the PSA Cardinals has picked up an offer from the reigning NCAA champions, his AAU director, Terrance “Munch” Williams confirmed to SNY.tv. ESPN’s Adam Finkelstein first reported the offer.

    “I want that offer as much as I have any other offer,” Bamba told Josh Newman last week in New Jersey. “Although they do have a really great program, it’s sort of, not a finishing point, but it would be a great accomplishment if I get that offer.”

    Bamba also said he likes what Kentucky does with athletic big men.

    gilesJPGIn an interview with Scout.com, Harry Giles calls Duke commit Jayson Tatum his “best friend” but says he will have to make the “right decision for me.”

    The 6-foot-8 Tatum committed to Duke at the Peach Jam and immediately said he would begin recruiting his close friend Giles to join him.

    “I mean, that’s my best friend,” Giles told Scout. “So it’s going to impact me a little bit, but at the same time I have to make the best decision for me. Regardless if he went to Duke or not, if he didn’t go there, I would still consider Duke just as much. At the same time, I have to make the right decision for me. If the right decision is we are both at the same school, it is what it is.”

    Duke appears to have tremendous recruiting momentum now with the addition of Tatum and the perception that they can also add Giles to their 2016 class. The Blue Devils are also in strong for 2016 point guard Frank Jackson, as well as 2017 targets Trae Young and Michael Porter Jr., as well as Gary Trent Jr. and Wendell Carter Jr. Both pairings have discussed package deals.

    Jamal Murray 2By JOSH NEWMAN

    The Canadian National Team finally met its match Saturday afternoon at the Pan American Games.

    Down as many as 25 in the gold medal game to Brazil, the Canadians cut the deficit to six early in the fourth quarter, but ultimately fell, 86-71 at the Ryerson Athletic Center in Toronto to settle for silver. That is Canada’s best-ever finish at Pan Am and its first medal of any kind in international competition since 2001 when it when it took silver at the FIBA Americas Championship.

    Minnesota Timberwolves forward Anthony Bennett scored a team-high 18 points to go along with nine rebounds, while 18-year-old Kentucky freshman point guard Jamal Murray added 12 points, but shot just 3-for-12 from the field. Murray was coming off a monster game in the semifinals against the United States where he scored all of his 22 points between the fourth quarter and overtime. 

    “Brazil is a good team and they played well today,” said Canada head coach Jay Triano, a Trail Blazers assistant, in a Canada Basketball release. “I think we grew up throughout the tournament and throughout this game. I’m glad that we showed some fight to get back in the game”

    “It was a great experience playing with these guys,” Murray said. “We’re still very proud of what we did, even though this not the final goal that we wanted.”

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