December 2011 | Page 23 of 28 | Zagsblog
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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.
  • WAYNE, N.J. — As an All-State guard coming out of Newark East Side High School in 2007, Corey Chandler figured that by the spring of 2011 he would be finishing up an accomplished tenure at Rutgers and planning for a pro basketball career.

    Instead, Chandler found himself working in Newark for a company called Clean Tech, putting in eight-hour shifts washing feces, urine and other bodily fluids off of Depends diapers, sheets and towels that came in from nursing homes.

    “They come from old folks’ homes, so you could imagine what they had on them,” the 6-foot-2 Chandler told SNY.tv during an exclusive interview Wednesday.

    If you think a 16-team basketball conference in the Big East is big, just wait until the 2013-14 season.

    There could potentially be an 18- or 19-team Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden in March 2014.

    “We have a 16-team tournament now,” Big East Commissioner John Marinatto said Wednesday on a conference call. “Anything is possible.”

    With the additions of Central Florida, Houston and SMU, the league will jump to 19 basketball teams in 2013.

    NEW YORK — Washington came to the Big Apple with a great opportunity to score at least one NCAA Tournament resume win.

    The Huskies narrowly missed out on their first chance, losing a heartbreaker to No. 11 Marquette, 79-77, on a 3-pointer from Jae Crowder in the Jimmy V Classic at MSG.

    So, does that make Saturday’s game against No. 7 Duke at the Garden a must-win in terms of NCAA Tournament credentials?

    “Oh, definitely,” Washington sophomore guard Terrence Ross said after scoring a team-high 19 points, including a sick 360-dunk, and grabbing 9 boards in the loss.

    NEW YORK — Before Tuesday night, Missouri hadn’t played in New York since the Preseason NIT in 1988.

    Nearly a quarter century later, the No. 10 Tigers made an emphatic statement on the national stage by handling Villanova, 81-71, in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.

    “The Missouri brand was on the national scene tonight,” said Tigers coach Frank Haith, a Queens native. “The lights are bright, very bright here in New York. We had an opportunity to play on national TV against a really good team.”

    GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Andy Rautins has already scored one big victory this basketball season.

    When his alma mater Syracuse beat Stanford last month at Madison Square Garden, Rautins earned bragging rights over his teammate and close friend Landry Fields for the rest of the college season.

    “It was just playing for pride and bragging rights, so I got that the rest of the season,” Rautins said Tuesday at the Knicks facility.

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