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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.
  • Elijah CottrillBy JOSH VERLIN

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    WEST CHESTER, Pa. — Elijah Cottrill travels a little more than most for his summer travel team.

    The Pittsburgh-area native plays his AAU ball with the New York Panthers, despite living over 400 miles from the Big Apple. A rising senior at Beaver Falls (Pa.), Cottrill — a two-sport star garnering Division I interest in football — recently picked up his first collegiate basketball offer.

    “Creighton offered during the Pitt Jam Fest,” he told SNY.tv at the Team Philly Memorial Day Tournament on Saturday. “I know that they’re going to the Big East this year; I’ve got to do my research on them.”

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    By MATT SUGAM

    Rutgers had to get a new athletic director because their old one didn’t fire Mike Rice after he was shown video of Rice physically abusing players, cursing them out, and spewing gay slurs.

    As it turns out, that new athletic director, Julie Hermann, may have been a similar coach to Rice.

    When she was the head volleyball coach at Tennessee in the mid-90s, the 15 players on her team wrote a letter saying Hermann coached through humiliation, fear and emotional abuse.

    By JACK LeGWIN

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    SUWANEE, Ga. — Playing in front of a packed Court 5 at the Nike Memorial Invitational here, Harry Giles put on a show.

    The 6-foot-9, 210-pound freshman out of High Point (N.C.) Wesleyan Christian Academy scored 22 points, highlighted by a spectacular put-back dunk, to help the CP3 All-Stars 16U team take down NJ Playaz Basketball Club 16U on Saturday afternoon.

    Although Giles is a player who many consider No. 1 in the country in the class of 2016, he doesn’t feel the pressure of living up to the hype.

    Everyone knows that Jamaica has produced the fastest man on Earth in Usain Bolt.

    But the Caribbean island has also brought forth some talented basketball players, too, most notably former Knicks star Patrick Ewing, who was born in Kingston.

    The way Ajani Williams sees it, Jamaica now has more than enough talent to compete for an Olympic bid in 2016.

    Williams, the President of the Jamaica Basketball Association, rattles off a Who’s Who of talented players of Jamaican heritage, including current NBA players Roy Hibbert, Tristan ThompsonBen Gordon, Andre Drummond, Toney Douglas and Ryan Hollins; former NBA

    By JEREMY WOO

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    MINNEAPOLIS — One of the AAU circuit’s best-kept secrets is, well, no longer a secret.

    Enter Tyler Ulis.

    On Friday night, the 5-foot-9 2014 point guard captained his shorthanded Meanstreets squad to a 60-56 win over previously undefeated Team Takeover. Without consensus top-100 prospects Vic Law and Paul White, Ulis and Meanstreets got off to a terrific start at the final EYBL session of the spring.

    Only 24 teams advance to July’s Peach Jam finals, and the sense of urgency was clear.

    By CHIP MILLER

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    Rashad Vaughn created a small stir during session one of the Nike E.Y.B.L. Circuit in late April. Talk started that the top ranked shooting guard out of Robbinsdale Cooper (MN) High School was transferring to Huntington (W.V.) Prep, one of the top prep schools in the nation, for his senior season.

    When asked if he would be playing for Huntington Prep in the fall, Vaughn replied to Next Cats, “I can’t confirm that right now.”

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