February 2012 | Page 3 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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Saturday / April 20.
  • After helping Teaneck (N.J.) High School win the Bergen Jamboree last week, Chris Jones decided it was time to settle his future plans, too.

    The 6-foot-5, 205-pound shooting guard pledged to Pittsburgh on Monday.

    “It’s a great school with a great coach and I have a good relationship with [assistant coach] Brandin Knight,” Jones told SNY.tv by text.

    Jones said he also held offers from La Salle, Rhode Island, Boston University, Colorado, Nebraska and interest from UConn, Virginia Tech and Seton Hall.

    Iona will likely face an all-or-nothing proposition when it heads into the MAAC Tournament this weekend in Springfield, Mass.

    As the league champion and No. 1 seed, the Gaels (24-6) need to win the tournament in order to get the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament because the MAAC likely won’t get an at-large bid. This despite Iona’s RPI of 41.

    “Not likely,” Jerry Palm of CollegeRPI.com told SNY.tv of the MAAC’s chances of getting an at-large bid.

    Not surprisingly, several MAAC coaches disagree.

    In any other year, Oak Hill coach Steve Smith would be happy to take his team to the ESPN National High School Invitational in North Bethesda, Md.

    But not this year.

    That’s because Smith is taking the Warriors (43-0) — who are No. 1 in the ESPN poll and No. 2 in the Five Star Power Rankings — on a basketball tour of China that runs March 7-19.

    Oak Hill — which has produced a slew of NBA players, including Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Rajon Rondo — will return

    Following a weekend unofficial visit to Arizona, Tyler Ennis’s father said the school would be a “good fit” for his son, one of the top point guards in the Class of 2013 out of St. Benedict’s Prep.

    “I really think that it’s a good fit in regards to what they’re looking for,” Tony McIntyre of the CIA Bounce AAU team told SNY.tv by phone.

    “It’s really going to come down to how well they recruit him and the comfort that he feels with Sean Miller.”

    McIntyre and Ennis tripped to Arizona and watched the Wildcats win a close Pac-12 game over UCLA, 65-63.

    Lance Brown had choices when he left Quinnipiac last season.

    He could transfer, for a second time, to a Division I school and sit out two years.

    He could head to a Division II program and sit one year.

    Or he could go the Division III route and play immediately.

    The 6-foot-4 guard from Teaneck, N.J., chose the third option by picking William Paterson and things have paid off in a big way.

    Brown was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Year, the Pioneers won the NJAC tournament title Saturday night over Richard Stockton and later this week they begin play in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

    “Coming into D-3, I set goals for myself and one of my goals was to win Player of the Year, which I did, and another goal was to win a conference championship and an NCAA,” Brown told SNY.tv Monday by phone.

    When the Knicks resume practice Tuesday following the All-Star break, Josh Harrellson will join them.

    The 6-foot-10 rookie from Kentucky has been cleared to practice in full after he fractured his right wrist Jan. 21 against the Nuggets.

    Fellow rookie Iman Shumpert (left knee tendinitis) will practice on a limited basis, while Billy Walker (sore left elbow) is not scheduled to practice tomorrow.

    Before the break, head coach Mike D’Antoni said he was anxious to get Harrellson, who averaged 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds before the injury, back.

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