According to John Calipari’s official website, Sosa drove to the basket with 37.9 seconds remaining in the DR’s 92-68 victory and sustained a compound fracture of his right fibula and tibia.
“From what they’re seeing right now, they’ve just got to place it,” Calipari said on his website. “It’s crazy, nobody fell on him or anything. It’s sad because this kid just had a heck of a game. He had 13 points, eight rebounds and was playing a lot better.” (more…)
NEW YORK – The decline of New York City basketball has been a hot topic in recent months.
Last November, The Wall Street Journal ran a much-talked about piece entitled, “New York Loses Allure as a Basketball Mecca.”
The article pointed out that “the city hasn’t produced a consensus first-team All-American since 1993 when Jamal Mashburn, the University of Kentucky forward from Cardinal Hayes High School, was so honored” and that “no player born and raised in New York has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame since 1996, and that individual was a woman, Nancy Lieberman.” (more…)
In his effort to rebuild the program at St. Benedict’s Prep, new coach Mark Taylor is reaching into New York City.
Kevin Mickle, a 6-foot-7, 191-pound sophomore wing from Adelphi Academy, will attend the Newark school next season, and Melvin Johnson, a 6-3, 185-pound two guard out of Rice High is considering attending.
“I think it’s a great coaching staff over there that can help me get to a certain point that I want to play,” Mickle said by phone.
St. Ben’s is a prep school and Mickle said he planned to live in the dorms. (more…)
Rice High School, the storied home of former stars like Kemba Walker, Andre Barrett, Felipe Lopez and Kenny Satterfield, is on the brink of closing.
“The school is in legitimate jeopardy of closing,” Rice assistant coach Kimani Young told SNY.tv Monday. “The school is exploring options to stay open.”
Young said officials were looking into moving the school to All Saints Middle School or Charles Middle School in Harlem.
“Those are the options being explored right now,” Young said. (more…)
Former N.C. State point guard Ryan Harrow will make a decision on his new destination by the end of the month.
“After this visit I have to sit down and evaluate all schools and make an informative decision,” Harrow Tweeted Tuesday. “Place where I can [im]prove and will be happy.” (more…)
Kemba Walker is headed to the NBA.
At a press conference Tuesday at Gampel Pavillion, The Bronx native and Rice High School product confirmed what many had expected.
He will go pro after graduating in three years at UConn.
“I just think it’s the right time for me to go to the NBA,” said Walker. (more…)
HOUSTON – Two players and a coach engaged in a heartfelt embrace last Saturday after UConn beat Arizona to win the West Regional in Anaheim, Calif.
One player, Kemba Walker, was overwhelmed by the moment. He and the Huskies were moving on to the Final Four for the second time in three years.
The other, Lamont “Momo” Jones, and the Arizona assistant, Book Richardson, were crestfallen. Their season, which included a beatdown of defending national champion Duke in the regional semifinal, was suddenly over. (more…)
NEWARK – There has been much hand wringing in recent years about the decline and fall of New York City basketball.
But one look at the remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament reveals that the Big Apple is represented well.
Kemba Walker of UConn, Lamont “Momo” Jones and Kevin Parrom of Arizona, Doron Lamb of Kentucky and Erving Walker of Florida are all from New York.
And all began their careers at New York City Catholic schools. (more…)
Moe Hicks still wonders what might have been.
During the 2007-8 season, Hicks could have fielded a backcourt at Rice High School that featured Kemba Walker and Lamont “Momo” Jones.
Instead, while Hicks was abroad in Amsterdam on a college all-star tour that September, Jones withdrew from Rice and headed to American Christian (Pa.). He spent his junior year there playing alongside Tyreke Evans before the school closed, forcing him to finish up his high school career at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.
“They would have been great,” Hicks, now the director of basketball operations at St. John’s, said of a potential Walker/Jones backcourt. “The best dynamic duo at Rice ever, even better than Kenny Satterfield and Andre Barrett. They would have been one of the best in the country.” (more…)
Kemba Walker wasn’t sure his old coach would ever leave Rice High School.
After all, Moe Hicks had been at the Catholic powerhouse in Harlem since 1994 and was one of the most respected and accomplished prep coaches in the tri-state area.
“It’s about time he jumped into college coaching,” Walker said Wednesday. “I honestly didn’t think he would ever do it, but I’m happy for him. He had so many great accomplishments on the high school level, I think it’s time for him to excel on the college level.” (more…)
“Adam Zagoria sees the story behind the daily happenings.”
~ St. Anthony Coach Bob Hurley
Zagoria covers the New York Knicks and Big East hoops for NBA.com and SNY.tv. He also appears as a Big East Basketball Insider on SNY and 1050 ESPN Radio.
He is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, SI and Basketball Times.
