September 2013 | Page 4 of 27 | 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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Friday / April 19.
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    • Articles, St. Benedict's

    NEWARK, N.J. — When last we saw the St. Benedict’s Prep basketball team, Tyler Ennis, Mike Young and Isaiah Briscoe led the Gray Bees to a gutsy showing in the ESPN NHSI in April, where they lost a heartbreaker in the championship game to Kevin Boyle’s Montverde (FL) Academy club on a last-second 3-pointer.

    Those players are all gone now — Ennis to Syracuse, Young to Pittsburgh and Briscoe to Roselle Catholic — and it’s a new era at St. Ben’s.

    Coach Mark Taylor — who is allowed to recruit nationally and worldwide because St. Ben’s is not a member of the state athletic association — has assembled a roster that includes four young Puerto Rican players, three Lithuanians, a Canadian and several Americans, including VCU pledge Jon Williams.

    UCLA

    Isaac Hamilton has officially signed with UCLA, but won’t play until next season.

    A graduate of St. John Bosco High School (Bellflower, Calif.) in 2013, Hamilton began his fall quarter classes and signed a scholarship offer from UCLA on Thursday. He was admitted to the school earlier this month.

    “We are very excited to welcome Isaac to the Bruin family,” head coach Steve Alford said. “He comes from a great family, a strong high school program here in Los Angeles and he had an exceptional career as a McDonald’s All-American; an honor that encompasses skill, academics and character. Isaac is a big, versatile guard and will fit well with our system of play. We are excited he is a Bruin today.”

    Articles

    Note: This list was updated after Chane Behanan was indefinitely suspended from Louisville.

    With college basketball practices set to begin nationwide on Friday, here’s a look at the SNY Preseason All-America teams.

    PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM

    F Doug McDermott, Sr., Creighton

    F Andrew Wiggins, Fr., Kansas

    F Julius Randle, Fr., Kentucky

    G Russ Smith, Sr., Louisville

    G Marcus Smart, So., Oklahoma State

     

    PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM

    F C.J. Fair, Sr., Syracuse

    F Mitch McGary, So., Michigan

    C Adreian Payne, Sr., Michigan State

    G Gary Harris, So., Michigan State

    G Jahii Cason, So., Arizona State

    Articles, Kentucky, Recruiting

    Tyus Jones has cancelled his weekend visit to Kentucky, but Justise Winslow, Ray Kasongo, James Blackmon Jr., Sam Cassell and Chinanu Onuaku are some of the elite 2014 prospects who will trip to college campuses this weekend.

    The 6-foot-1 Jones out of Apple Valley (MN) cancelled the Kentucky visit in the wake of the Wildcats landing Chicago point guard Tyler Ulis.

    “My next visit will be to Kansas on Oct. 18,” Jones told Jason Jordan of USA Today.

    Andrew Wiggins, Articles

    College basketball season tips off Friday with a slew of games — and perhaps nobody is happier than Jon Rothstein, who has kept us posted on the countdown all summer…on a daily basis.

    With that in mind, here are five key storylines entering the 2013-14 college basketball season.

    1. KENTUCKY’S DREAM TEAM
    Kentucky’s roster includes four players projected as first-round picks in the 2014 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com, and three others picked as first-rounders in 2015.

    Freshman forward Julius Randle is projected as the No. 2 pick next year, followed by freshman point guard Andrew Harrison at No. 8, sophomore center Willie Cauley-Stein at No. 16 and sophomore forward Alex Poythress at No. 28.

    Articles, Michigan State, Recruiting

    Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn is headed to Michigan State.

    A 5-foot-10, 175-pound Bahamas native, Nairn picked the Spartans over Minnesota, Oklahoma and Indiana after visiting all four schools.

    “I took all my visits, but there was something different when I went there,” Nairn told Scout.com’s Evan Daniels. “The players were always together. The players put their arms around me and say ‘Tum, lets do this.’ And that meant a lot to me.

    “Coach didn’t promise a starting spot or anything like that. He told me the situation and said they needed one. It just felt like home.”

    Articles, Recruiting

    Chinanu Onuaku, a 6-foot-10 center from Upper Marlboro (Md.) Riverdale Baptist, will announce between Miami, Georgetown and Louisville next Friday, his high school coach told SNY.tv.

    Onuaku is the younger brother of former Syracuse big man Arinze Onuaku.

    “We’re going to do a press conference,” Riverdale Baptist coach Lou Wilson told SNY.tv Thursday. “I’m thinking probably Tuesday.”

    The No. 65 player in the Class of 2014 according to Rivals, Onuaku was slated to visit Indiana this weekend, but that was cancelled and he instead will visit Georgetown, as first reported by Scout.com.

    “I think Indiana wanted to bring him in later,” Wilson said.

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