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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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Wednesday / May 8.
  • Now that Andy Toole has been tabbed as Mike Rice’s replacement at Robert Morris and Book Richardson has opted to stay put at Arizona, Rice’s staff at Rutgers should come into a little bit clearer focus.

    Rice had expected Toole to get the Robert Morris job  after he took over at Rutgers, and that news came down on Monday.

    “I got a voicemail from Andy at about 1 o’clock saying he got the job,” one prominent Atlantic 10 coach said, referring to Toole.

    Rice offered Richardson the job of associate head coach, but Book opted to stay put under Sean Miller.

    His goal is to coach in the Final Four and he has now turned down offers from both St. John’s and Rutgers to come back home and coach in the Big East…so he must feel that Arizona is closer to making a deep run in the NCAA tournament than either Big East program.

    The Kadeem Jack Sweepstakes now includes two of the most storied programs in the history of college basketball.

    The 6-foot-9 Jack plans to visit North Carolina and Kentucky sometime in the coming weeks, although no dates have been set.

    “According to him, he said that he’s going to set up visits with North Carolina and Kentucky,” said South Kent (Conn.) coach Kelvin Jefferson. “He said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to visit Kentucky and North Carolina.'”

    Jack wasn’t immediately available for comment Saturday night, but Jefferson had spoken with Jack earlier Saturday.

    Los Angeles senior wing Dwayne Polee Jr. sent in his National Letter of Intent to St. John’s and head coach Steve Lavin had high praise for his first recruit since taking over the Big East program.

    “I am elated to announce that Dwayne Polee Jr. has chosen to become a student-athlete at St. John’s,” Lavin said. “Dwayne is from Westchester High School, one of the elite programs in the nation, whose graduates include Billy Knight and Trevor Ariza, who was my last recruit at UCLA. Dwayne is our first recruit here at St. John’s, which really brings things full-circle.

    “Coached by Ed Azzam, Dwayne is well-schooled in fundamentals and in the ways of winning games. He is also a great competitor with an insatiable drive to improve his superior athletic gifts. The University, our coaching staff, our players and our fans share my enthusiasm and join me in welcoming this truly outstanding basketball player to our program.”

    The way Phil Colicchio sees it, Desmond Wade would be a perfect fit at Rutgers.

    The 5-foot-8, 150-pound Wade  was a three-time All-State performer at Linden (N.J.) High School and owns career wins over point guards Jonny Flynn, Tyreke Evans and Corey Fisher.

    Wade just received his release from the University of Houston and is looking to transfer “closer to home,” according to his father, Jeff Wade.

    “I think it would be a no-brainer for Rutgers to come get him but I’m not the coach at Rutgers,” Colicchio said, referring to new Rutgers coach Mike  Rice. “These guys gotta decide what they want.”

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