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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 / December 2.
  • Rick Pitino believes Louisville or Syracuse could still get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if they “win out” the remainder of the way.

    The same could probably be said of Georgetown and Marquette.

    Syracuse, Georgetown and Marquette are currently tied atop the Big East standings at 10-3, while Louisville is a game out at 9-4.

    Joe Lunardi of ESPN currently has Indiana, Duke, Miami and Gonzaga as his four No. 1 seeds.

    Lunardi has Syracuse as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest and Louisville as the 3 seed in the East.

    “If Syracuse or us win out, we would definitely be a No. 1 seed,” Pitino said on the Big East conference call. “I think we have the seventh toughest schedule and then we’re sixth or seventh in the RPI. Last year we had the 2-ranked schedule in the nation. So the Big East has a major advantage in scheduling.

    “Now that being said, it’s going to be very difficult for Syracuse or us to win out.”

    NEW YORK — Michael Williams, a 6-foot-2 junior shooting guard at Bishop Loughlin High School, recently received his first high-major offer from Rutgers coach Mike Rice.

    “He offered me right on the spot and it felt great,” Williams said after pouring in a game-high 26 points to help Loughlin rout Archbishop Molloy, 85-49, Wednesday in the Brooklyn-Queens ‘AA’ Diocesan semifinals at Christ the King.

    Loughlin, which beat Molloy for the first time in three meetings this season, will face Christ the King in Friday’s Brooklyn-Queens championship game at Christ the King at 7 p.m.

    At this point, Williams only holds offers from Rutgers and Quinnipiac but if he keeps playing like he did in this game, more high-major offers should follow.

    http://web.sny.tv/media/video.jsp?content_id=25606735

    NEW YORK (AP) — Steve Lavin had been coaching a very young St. John’s team a certain way for most of the season. It had been an approach of staying upbeat, making sure everything was a positive learning experience. He was treating a team full of 10 first- and second-year players like a team full of 10 first- and second-year players.

    Things changed a bit Wednesday night in a 69-54 victory over USF.

    “I wasn’t pleased with stretches where we lost our focus and concentration,” Lavin said of a second-half timeout he called when he could be heard over the home crowd, letting his team know he didn’t like what he was seeing. “We lost the concentration we need to put good teams away. But we recaptured the focus and salted the win away. With our schedule stepping up we can’t have those lapses or teams will go on runs and that will make it less likely that we will do something special in March.”

    NEW YORK — With a slew of high-major college coaches looking on, Jon Severe led Christ the King into the finals of the Brooklyn-Queens “AA” Diocesan finals and then said he planned to cut his college list fairly soon.

    “I don’t have a list, I’m going to do that after my Alabama visit [Feb. 25-26],” Severe told SNY.tv after putting up 23 points, including three 3-pointers, as the Royals crushed Holy Cross, 83-61, at Christ the King. “I’m going to cut it down.”

    Severe and the Royals will try to get their third win this season over Bishop Loughlin in Friday’s Diocesan final; Christ the King won both games by one point.

    In the first semifinal, Loughlin routed Archbishop Molloy, 85-49, behind a combined 50 points from junior guards Michael Williams (26 points) and Khadeen Carrington (24).

    Tyler Ennis and his St. Benedict’s Prep teammates got revenge for their only loss of the season.

    The Gray Bees crushed Blair Academy, 93-47, to win their second straight New Jersey Prep Championship at St. Benedict’s. Blair handed St. Ben’s (26-1) its only loss of the season, 54-52, last month.

    Ennis, who may well become the starting point guard for Syracuse next season when the Orange head to the ACC, led the barrage with a 28-point, 12-assist, 6-steal effort, while Pittsburgh commit Mike Young contributed 23 points and 10 rebounds.

    Also scoring in double figures for coach Mark Taylor’s team were Isaiah Briscoe (14 points) Tyrell Green (12 points) and Old Domininon-bound forward Denzell Taylor (10), who also hauled in 12 boards.

    GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Jason Kidd burst out of the starting gate of this basketball season like a man who had discovered the Fountain of Youth.

    In November, the 39-year-old Knicks guard averaged 8.0 points and 3.4 assists while shooting 49 percent from beyond the arc, and by December, he had ramped it up to 9.9 points and 4.8 assists while making 42 percent from deep.

    He was a major reason why the Knicks began the season with a torrid 18-5 record and was considered the team’s co-MVP along with Carmelo Anthony.

    Remember when Kidd hit that game-winning 3-pointer against Brooklyn at the Barclays Center off a swing pass from Anthony?

    Here are a couple of quick recruiting notes from Wednesday morning:

    **Christ the King senior shooting guard Jon Severe will trip to Alabama Feb. 25-26, head coach Joe Arbitello told SNY.tv. West Virginia assistant Larry Harrison is also expected to watch the 6-foot-2 Severe tonight (Wednesday) when Christ the King plays Holy Cross in the New York CHSAA Brooklyn/ Queens Diocesan Playoffs. Purdue, Tennessee and Rutgers are among the other schools involved, along with Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Duquesne and George Washington. Check back here later tonight for more on Severe.

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