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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.
  • Lamont “Momo” Jones has been granted a hardship waiver by the NCAA to play this season at Iona, as first reported Thursday by SNY.tv.

    “I’m pretty excited about it,” Iona coach Tim Cluess told SNY.tv by phone. “I’m really excited and happy for the kid. The whole Iona community is thrilled to be adding him as part of our team for this year.”

    Jones, who transferred from Arizona, has a grandmother living in Harlem battling a liver ailment. That was the basis of the hardship waiver request.

    “Family comes first,” said Jones. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to play at Iona College this year with some tremendous players that I’ve known for a while, but in the end, I’m happy to be home and happy to be able to help my family through this tough time. I’m grateful to the NCAA for granting the waiver which allows me to be nearer to my family and to be able to complete my degree in two years instead of three.”

    Jones averaged 9.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in 38 appearances as a sophomore at Arizona.

    NEW YORK — The way Scoop Jardine figures it, if the NBA lockout lasts all season he might see Carmelo Anthony at a few more Syracuse games.

    Carmelo and Amar’e Stoudemire figure to be back from their worldwide barnstorming tour by mid-November, giving them plenty of time to attend Big East basketball games this upcoming season.

    And Jardine thinks they won’t be the only NBA fans who might crossover if the lockout persists.

    “Most definitely, I can’t wait,” Jardine told SNY.tv Wednesday at Big East Media Day. “College basketball is really the best basketball, it’s the best time of the year. You can ask NBA players that, they all love it.

    “If the NBA don’t come back, we’re going to have a lot of guys. It will be Carmelo Anthony at our games, Wesley Johnson. And that will help us.”

    NEW YORK — Syracuse may be bolting for the ACC, but Scoop Jardine will finish his career in the Big East.

    And that is good news for the reporters who cover basketball in the league.

    Thoughtful, funny and always entertaining, Jardine may be the best player interview in the league.

    “There’s nothing like the Big East,” Jardine told SNY.tv during an exclusive interview Wednesday at Big East Media Day. “I’m happy I’m a part of it. If this is the last year of the Big East, this is my lsat year so I’ll be a part of something special, and that’s all I care about right now.”

    Jardine, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound guard from Philadelphia, hopes his last year in college is special.

    NEW YORK —  A year after winning his third national championship at UConn, Huskies coach Jim Calhoun says this year’s team has some advantages that last year’s squad did not.

    “We got our rings and now we’re ready to go on and try and win another championship,” Calhoun told SNY.tv Wednesday at Big East Media Day. “I think that’s the goal of every coach in this room.

    “But do I think we’re more talented? I think we’re longer, bigger and more athletic but we don’t have Kemba [Walker] and Kemba had the best single season in 114 years of Connecticut basketball. Pretty tough to match that.”

    NEW YORK — Louisville coach Rick Pitino isn’t afraid to let loose his opinions on conference realignment.

    First he told SNY.tv during an exclusive interview that a UConn move to the ACC would be the “dumbest thing he’s ever heard of.

    And at Big East Media Day Wednesday, Pitino told reporters just what he thought of Syracuse and Pittsburgh bolting the Big East for the ACC.

    “This was a basketball move taking Pittsburgh and Syracuse, it was not a football move,” he told reporters, according to USA Today. “They (ACC) wanted to get back to what we remember, 15-20 years ago, growing up a college basketball fan, the ACC was dominant. They don’t like the fact that the Big East has been the premier basketball conference.

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