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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 / October 7.
  • By ALEX KLINE

    Maurice Watson has gone from zero to hero in the month of July.

    A 5-foot-9 point guard from Team Philly in Pennsylvania, the rising senior attends little-known Boys’ Latin School. Looked at by some college assistants as being “to small with no jump shot,” Watson has made up for his lack of size with a big heart.

    Coming into July with zero offers but plenty of interest from low and mid-major schools after an impressive spring of AAU, Watson has officially blown up.

    Duke is the latest powerhouse school to get involved with Alex Poythress, the 6-foot-8 forward from the Georgia Stars who scored 26 points in Monday’s loss to Texas Pro in the Orlando Super Showcase ESPNU game.

    “He likes Duke,” Georgia Stars coach Norm Parker said Tuesday by phone. “I think he’s pleased that they offered him.”

    Vanderbilt, UConn, Kentucky, Florida, Texas, Louisville, Memphis, Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia Tech and Georgia are among the other schools Poythress is considering.

    “He’s got a lot of great offers on the table,” Parker said. “I’m surprised every team in the country hasn’t offered that young man.”

    Former St. John’s star Dwight Hardy is the latest Big East standout to sign with a European club.

    Hardy has signed with Pistoia Basket, located 25 minutes outside of Florence, Italy.

    The 6-foot-2 Hardy averaged 18.3 points last season and was a first-team All-Big East selection for a St. John’s team that reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002.

    Hardy is the latest Big East star to sign overseas. Ben Hansbrough, who beat Hardy out for Big East Player of the Year honors, and former Notre Dame teammate Tyrone Nash both signed to play in Germany. Former Syracuse forward Rick Jackson will play in France.

    T.J. Warren, a 6-foot-7 small forward from Raleigh, N.C., whose stock has taken off this summer, has a list of six top schools.

    Warren is considering Kentucky, Louisville, Florida, Georgetown, North Carolina and Kansas.

    “It’s all the same with the schools that are recruiting me,” Warren, who will prep this year at Brewster (N.H.) Academy, told Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier-Journal. “They have showed me a lot of interest and I talked with all of the coaches before this tournament started, so I knew who was going to be watching.”

    Rutgers head coach Mike Rice secured a major recruiting coup when he landed Elijah Carter during the late signing period.

    After initially signing with St. Bonaventure out of St. Anthony, Carter did a prep year at Brewster (N.H.) Academy and saw his recruitment take off. He ultimately chose to stay at home and play for Rutgers, where he will join a talented group of incoming guards that includes Myles Mack and Jerome Seagears.

    On Tuesday night Carter went off for 40 points to lead Stevens Gutter Cleaning to a 118-110 victory over T&T Coast in the Jersey Shore Basketball League.

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