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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.
  • Chauncey Billups will return as the Knicks point guard next season.

    The team picked up his $14.2 million option on Wednesday, two days before the deadline to either pick up the option or buy him out for $3.7 million.

    “We have made a decision to keep Chauncey Billups for the upcoming 2011-12 season,” Knicks president Donnie Walsh said in a statement. “Chauncey, Amar’e and Carmelo are a great nucleus, as we continue to look our team going into the off-season. Chauncey is an extremely talented and experienced point guard — we are very happy to have him back.”

    Jamari Traylor is back from his Kansas visit and says he likely won’t decide on a college until sometime in May.

    Kansas and Oklahoma State are his top two options at this point, although Indiana and Texas Tech are expressing interest.

    Asked if Kansas and Oklahoma State were equal at this point, he said,”Yes, I would say so.”

    He took his latest official to Kansas this past weekend.

    TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — Looking out into a banquet room full of people Tuesday night at the Westchester Marriott, Charles Jenkins asked that his 11-year-old niece, Kemoni Albritton, stand and be recognized.

    “I want her to stand up so everybody can see the pretty dress she’s wearing tonight,” Jenkins, honored as only the third three-time winner of the Haggerty Award, told the crowd in what was perhaps the most touching moment of the night.

    Kareem Albritton, Jenkins’ older brother and Kemoni’s father, was shot and killed in Brooklyn in 2001. Ever since, Jenkins’ parents, Charles and Patricia, have helped raise the girl.

    **This story was updated on April 28 once Eli Carter signed his NLI**

    TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — Mike Rice and the Rutgers basketball program were dealt not one, but two harsh blows when they lost both Tyree Graham and Mike Taylor in recent weeks.

    Graham suffered an Achilles’ injury and Taylor is headed to prep school. It remains an open question whether either will ever suit up for Rutgers.

    “I’ve lost two guards in the lost month,” Rice said Tuesday night at the Haggerty Awards dinner at the Westchester Marriott.

    The good news for Rutgers — which finished 15-17, 5-13 in the Big East last season — is that Eli Carter signed his Letter of Intent Tuesday and the Scarlet Knights have a nice mix of talented young guards coming in.

    Former Kansas State power forward Wally Judge will visit Maryland this coming weekend and Washington the next.

    Memphis also remains an option.

    “He’ll have a better feel after he takes his visits,” said Arlington (Va.) Country Day coach Rex Morgan, Judge’s high school coach.

    “He only visited Kansas State and only signed there so it’s very important for him to take two or three visits and get a perspective.”

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