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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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Saturday / April 20.
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    • Fordham, Villanova

    In response to reports linking his name to the Philadelphia 76ers vacant head coaching position, Villanova’s Jay Wright said today that although he met with the team’s president and general manager Ed Stefanski last week, he requested that his name be removed from consideration for the position.

    “Last week, Ed reached out to me to see if I would be willing to speak to him about the Sixers’ coaching position,” said Wright, who led the ‘Cats to the Final Four in Detroit and has the Big East’s top recruiting class coming in. “He is a longtime friend of mine whom I have great respect for and is someone I talk to often. We had a lively conversation about the vision Ed has for the Sixers organization. As a lifelong Sixers fan, I was honored to be part of the process.

    John Wall, Kansas, Kentucky

    John Calipari has yet to coach his first game at the University of Kentucky and he is already a Big Winner.

    Just six weeks after moving to Kentucky from Memphis, Calipari has lined up a blockbuster recruiting class that should immediately make the Wildcats a potential Top 10, if not Final Four-type, team.

    When point guard John Wall signed with Kentucky earlier this week, he became the fourth five-star recruit to land in Lexington since Rivals began monitoring basketball recruiting in 2003.

    “They’re the No. 1 class and a pretty decisive No. 1 class,” national recruiting expert Jerry Meyer of Rivals told USA Today. “You’re taking about a six-man class that is stacked with players in the top 40 or above.”

    Grassroots

    The Nike Elite Youth Basketball summer schedule is out and the big news is the LeBron James Academy in Akron, Ohio from July 5-7 is closed to college coaches.

    In past years, all the college coaches convened at the University of Akron to watch many of the top players drill and compete in games.

    This year’s event is open to the media but closed to coaches. Instead, college coaches will have to wait until the King James Classic July 8-9 at nearby Cleveland State University to watch the kids play.

    The Reebok All-American Camp, held July 6-10 in Philly, will allow college coaches in for the last three days.

    The other change is that there will no longer be a Steve Nash Point Guard Academy in New Jersey.

    Too bad, because it was always convenient from New York City to interview the 20 top point guards in high school and 10 of the top college guards. Last year’s Nash camp featured Lance Stephenson and John Wall.

    This year Deron Williams will host a Point Guard Academy in Dallas instead.

    Vince Carter, Paul Pierce and Amare Stoudemire will continue to  host academies leading up to the LeBron James Academy.

    By then, LeBron could be an NBA champ…or not.

    See the full schedule below.

    Arizona, Lance Stephenson, Maryland, Memphis

    New day, new story on Lance Stephenson.

    The news today is that Lance Stephenson Sr. told USA Today that his son had narrowed his choices to Arizona and Maryland.

    “He wants to clear his name before he makes a decision,” the father told the paper.

    Stephenson has been charged with sexual assault and the case was adjourned to June 29.

    Stephenson’s lawyer, Alberto Ebanks, said he is trying to get the case dismissed, but there is no new news on that front.

    A source at Arizona said the Wildcats were trying to get Stephenson out for an official visit.

    Arizona, Florida International, Georgetown, Lance Stephenson, Maryland, Memphis, Oklahoma

    Latavious Williams says he could end up playing for Memphis and he hopes Lance Stephenson joins him there.

    Williams, a 6-foot-8 combo forward out of Humble (TX) Christian Life Center, plans to announce in the next few days among Memphis, Georgetown, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Florida International.

    “I’d say Memphis is the favorite,” Williams said Wednesday by phone. “More likely, it’s Memphis right now.”

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