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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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Monday / December 2.
  • The defending national champs have a scholarship to give.

    Some player currently on a high school or prep campus could be a member of the defending champion UConn Huskies in a matter of days or weeks.

    “We’re operating right now on 10 scholarships,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said recently in New York. “We can add one more and we plan to.”

    Toward that end, UConn offered 6-foot-10, 255-pound Brewster big man Mitch McGary — currently a member of the Class of 2012 — and gave him the option of enrolling in 2011 or 2012.

    Jeremy Hazell is not exactly in the best position to get drafted.

    The former Seton Hall sharpshooter missed 13 games this season with a broken left wrist and was also the victim of a shooting during a robbery attempt gone bad in front of his Harlem home on Christmas Day.

    He had hoped to attend the Portsmouth Invitational in April in an effort to show his stuff for NBA scouts, but he was still recovering from wrist surgery and wasn’t cleared to play.

    Louisville coach Rick Pitino added to his tremendous 2011 recruiting class Monday by landing 6-foot-4 Georgia guard Kevin Ware during an official visit.

    The No. 18 shooting guard in the Class of 2011 according to Rivals, Ware initially committed to Tennessee as a sophomore and signed his Letter of Intent in November. He then was given his release when former coach Bruce Pearl was fired.

    He committed to Central Florida in April, but decommitted after reports surfaced that a street agent was involved in his recruitment.

    “It has been a long journey, with a few twists and turns, and now it’s all done,” Ware’s stepfather, Wesley Junior, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

    Despite an Internet report that Andre Drummond may reclassify to the Class of 2011, everyone around him says he will remain in 2012.

    “I don’t think so,” Connecticut Basketball Club coach Joe Gaetano said Monday by phone. “He’s 2012 right now and I think he’s staying that way.”

    Asked by text if Drummond was switching to 2011, St. Thomas More coach Jere Quinn replied, “No one has said anything to me.”

    John Calipari’s stated goal for coaching the Dominican Republic National Team this summer is to try to qualify for the 2012 Olympics.

    Yet an added benefit will be hosting some young Dominican studs on the Kentucky campus in August, which could become a major recruiting advantage.

    “If I’m a coach of a National Team and I can promise that player a roster spot on an Olympic Team at 16 or 17 years old, that gives me an unfair recruiting advantage,” a well-placed source said. “I can use my position to access and spend more time with potential recruits.

    “The NCAA has to look at this as a possible recruiting advantage.”

    By RYAN FELDMAN

    TheHoopsReport.com

    PENNINGTON, N.J. — Some of the top high school basketball players in the country helped raise $7,000 for cancer research Saturday night at the first ever Mary Kline Classic.

    The event, which took place at the Pennington School, was organized by Alex Kline, who runs TheRecruitScoop.com and serves as a ZAGSBLOG contributor. The money that was raised will be donated to the American Cancer Association and National Brain Tumor Society.

    “The event went better than expected,” Kline said. “At first, I was a little nervous that some players wouldn’t show up, but I was pleasantly surprised and happy. I can’t describe how I feel right now. It all went so amazing. I’m so thankful.”

    Tobias Harris, the 6-foot-7 small forward out of Dix Hills, N.Y., has signed with an agent and is about to embark upon a series of workouts with NBA teams, including the Knicks.

    According to his father, Torrel, Harris signed with Henry Thomas of Creative Artists Agency, who counts Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem of the Miami Heat among his half dozen clients.

    Harris is due to begin workouts today (Friday), and is tentatively slated to work out for Knicks brass June 3. The Knicks hold the No. 17 pick in the June 23 NBA Draft and will reportedly work out shooting guard Jimmer Fredette of BYU June 2.

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