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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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Friday / March 29.
  • **Read the feature on Cincy QB Tony Pike here***

    PISCATAWAY, N.J. — With its 47-15 beatdown of Rutgers on Labor Day at Rutgers Stadium, Cincinnati has now seized early control of the Big East standing.

    The Bearcats are 1-0 and alone in first place, while Rutgers, at 0-1, is by itself in last place.

    Due to the quirky scheduling of the Big East, those teams will remain in those spots until Oct. 2, when Pittsburgh plays at Louisville (8 p.m., ESPN2). The following day, South Florida plays at Syracuse.

    The Bearcats don’t play another league game until Oct. 15 when they visit South Florida.

    Victor Oladipo,a 6-5, 202-pound senior shooting guard out of Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha, has committed to Indiana after a weekend visit to the school.

    Oladipo also considered N.C. State, Clemson, UNC-Charlotte and Notre Dame.

    “I did,” he said by phone. “I just felt that was my home. Coach [Tom] Crean and the Indiana basketball coaching staff have become my family over the past couple months. They’ve been recruiting me since December. I felt like I went down there and it was the place for me.”

    St. Thomas More (Conn.) coach Jere Quinn has coached some very talented players in his day.

    Quincy Douby and Devin Ebanks to name a few.

    Now Quinn is coaching Andre Drummond, a 6-foot-11 man-child who is the consensus No. 1 player in the Class of 2012 and an early pick to be the top choice in the 2013 NBA Draft. (Photo at left courtesy NBADraft.net)

    “Everybody’s looking at the kid. I guess he’s the No.1  ranked sophomore in the country,” Quinn said.

    “He’s 6-11 with a 7-6 wingspan who can run and catch everything. He’s just a young kid whose potential is limitless.”

    Harrison Barnes, the No. 2 prospect in the Class of 2010 out of Ames (Iowa) High, visited North Carolina this weekend for the first of his official visits.

    “Fun,” the 6-foot-6 Barnes wrote in a text. “The atmosphere. The past and present were all together and it was fun to think of being part of a tradition like that.”

    Barnes saw the UNC football team rout Citadel 40-6 on Saturday and was also on campus Friday for the Pro Alumni Game in which a sellout crowd of 21,750 watched the White team defeat the Blue team 113-92.

    The game featured NBA All-Stars such as Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison and Jerry Stackhouse.

    Barnes will next visit Duke the weekend of Oct. 23.

    Tobias Harris could make a college decision after his home visits conclude and without taking any officials.

    The 6-foot-8 Harris, out of Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West, has a list of 11 in-home visits slated for Sept. 9-16.

    “We already visited all these schools,” Torrel Harris, Tobias’ dad, said Sunday by phone. “We as a family, if we feel extremely comfortable with a particular school, after the home visits we may make a a decision.

    “We already know all the schools.”

    Harris, the No. 5 player in the Class of 2010, lists Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Notre Dame, UConn, Louisville, St. John’s, Tennessee, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Maryland.

    Torrel insists there are “no favorites,” but said the family wants a school that will emphasize the “point forward” position.

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