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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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Tuesday / October 8.
  • It looks like the PSAL’s participation in the ESPN Rise National High School Invitational will be a one-and-done affair.

    The boys team from Brooklyn Boys & Girls and the girls team from Murry Bergtraum both participated in the event last spring — marking the first appearance by New York City teams in the three-year old event. That sparked an uproar from New York’s three other athletic associations who considered the event unsanctioned.

    Yet after a conference call Wednesday, the matter appears to have been resolved. The PSAL won’t be punished by getting shut out of next year’s state Federation basketball tournament, and PSAL teams won’t participate in the ESPN event going forward.

    The future of Hofstra signee Malik Nichols remains in limbo.

    The 6-foot-5 Nichols, who averaged eight points and nine rebounds for the PSAL champion Kangaroos, is on record saying he will attend prep school next season after finishing up this year at Brooklyn Boys & Girls.

    But New York Panthers head coach Gary Charles said nothing has been determined as of yet.

    “He signed with Hofstra,” Charles said Wednesday by phone. “It’s not like he just gave a verbal. Until the high school season is over and everything has been done to try to get him eligible, I don’t think we can discuss him going to prep school.

    “As of now, he’s going to Hofstra.”


    Stop the presses.

    The Knicks need help on the defensive end.

    Specifically, they are in need of a defensive-minded big man to help protect the rim.

    “I think the main focus for us is to get better defensively,” Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire told ESPN’s ‘Mike & Mike’ Wednesday. “That’s the ultimate goal for us. So I think we do need a little interior help, but that’s the front office’s decision. They’re going to make a great decision in order to build that championship-caliber team. And as players we have to focus this offseason to understand that defense should be our first priority.”

    Rodney Purvis is a free agent on the recruiting front and he took his latest unofficial visit to Missouri over the weekend.

    “It was great, had a great time,” Purvis said Wednesday by text. “The players are great people and it’s a great atmosphere. The people and the coaches are very good people.”

    The 6-foot-3 Purvis, the No. 1 shooting guard in the Class of 2012 out of Raleigh (N.C.) Upper Room Christian, maintains a close relationship with Tim Fuller, an assistant to new Mizzou coach Frank Haith.

    Fuller was a major reason why Purvis initially committed to Louisville, only to decommit after Fuller departed.

    Chris Evert says she would be shocked if Serena Williams were able to defend her Wimbledon crown when the tournament begins Monday.

    “It would be monumental in my mind if Serena pulled off a win [at Wimbledon],” Evert, a former world No. 1 and 18-time Grand Slam winner, said Monday on an ESPN conference call.

    “You can never count her out. But I don’t know how it’s humanly possible for someone to take a year off like that and have gone through what she’s been through physically … and [has only had] a one-tournament warmup.”

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