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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 / December 4.
  • NEWARK, N.J. Tristan Thompson said Wednesday he was looking forward to dunking on Kyrie Irving in the NBA.

    Now that the two are teammates with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Thompson will only get to dunk on Irving during practice.

    “I’m really looking forward to it,” Irving, the former St. Patrick and Duke star who was taken No. 1 overall by the Cavs, said of playing with the 6-9 Thompson, selected minutes later at No. 4.

    “Tristan is a great friend of mine, and just having another fellow freshman being drafted to Cleveland, I’m really looking forward to it.”

    NEW YORK — Tristan Thompson was asked Wednesday if there was a certain NBA player he was looking forward to dunking on once he joins the league.

    “Hmm,” the 6-foot-9 Thompson pondered, “I probably want to dunk on Kyrie.”

    Thompson still owes one to Irving from their days as New Jersey prep stars.

    In February 2009, Irving and his St. Patrick squad demolished Thompson and then-unbeaten St. Benedict’s Prep, 88-62, in front of about 4,000 fans at the Rutgers Athletic Center.

    “It was actually his coming out party, you could almost call it because no one saw him play against a big-name school [before that],” Thompson, who was held to 13 points in the loss, said of Irving. “He definitely put on a show and definitely showed the world who Mr. Irving was.”

    Seton Hall head officially announced that Gene Teague of Vineland, N.J., has transferred and will suit up for the 2012-13 season.

    The 6-foot-9, 290-pound Teague comes to Seton Hall following two seasons at Southern Illinois University where he averaged 7.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in 48 contests.

    “I’m really excited to welcome Gene to the Seton Hall family,” Pirates coach Kevin Willard said.  “His size and post skills will certainly bolster our frontcourt next year and his presence at practice will only make our young big men better this year.”


    NEW YORK — The decline of New York City basketball has been a hot topic in recent months.

    Last November, The Wall Street Journal ran a much-talked about piece entitled, “New York Loses Allure as a Basketball Mecca.”

    The article pointed out that “the city hasn’t produced a consensus first-team All-American since 1993 when Jamal Mashburn, the University of Kentucky forward from Cardinal Hayes High School, was so honored” and that “no player born and raised in New York has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame since 1996, and that individual was a woman, Nancy Lieberman.”

    NEW YORK –Enes Kanter isn’t bashful.

    He believes if he had been eligible to play at Kentucky last season, the Wildcats would’ve won the NCAA championship and he would be the No. 1 pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft.

    “I believe if I go play, I will go as No. 1 pick,” Kanter, who was ruled ineligible because of his professional background in Turkey, told reporters here Wednesday on the eve of the draft.

    Andre Drummond will turn 19 years old in 2012 and will be a year removed from his original high school graduating Class of 2011.

    Thus, under current NBA rules, he would appear to be eligible for the 2012 NBA Draft.

    “I would actually say that he may just be going straight to the draft if he can,” said a source close to the UConn basketball program, which is recruiting the 6-foot-10 Drummond.

    “If you’re not going to college next year and you’re going back to high school, I would assume it’s because you’re still trying to get to that 2012 draft.”

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