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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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Tuesday / March 19.
  • MCWThe Philadelphia 76ers’ Michael Carter-Williams, the 2013-14 NBA Rookie of the Year, headlines the 2013-14 NBA All-Rookie First Team.

    Carter-Williams was the lone unanimous First Team selection (250 points, 125 First Team votes), while the Orlando Magic’s Victor Oladipo narrowly missed a perfect ballot (248 points, 124 First Team votes). Trey Burke of the Utah Jazz (230 points, 108 First Team votes), Mason Plumlee of the Brooklyn Nets (214 points, 95 First Team votes) and the Knicks’ Tim Hardaway Jr. (204 points, 87 First Team votes) complete the 2013-14 NBA All-Rookie First Team.

    The voting panel consisted of 125 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada who were asked to select five players for the first team and five players for the second team, regardless of position. Two points were awarded for first team votes and one for second team votes.

    Jermaine Lawrence committed to Manhattan Thursday, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told SNY.tv.

    The 6-foot-9 Cincinnati transfer chose Manhattan over Iona and Hofstra after visiting Manhattan on Wednesday.

    Assistant coach Rasheen Davis hosted the visit while head coach Steve Masiello is on leave.

    Lawrence, who visited Manhattan during high school before committing to Cincinnati, could try to get a waiver to play immediately to play next season because his father is ill.

    Just a few days after tripping to Maryland last Friday, 6-foot-8 Shaker Heights and All-Ohio Red forward Esa Ahmad visited West Virginia on Wednesday.

    “Oh man, it was sweet, it was real nice,” his father, Ibby Ahmad told SNY.tv by phone. “The practice facilities were tremendous. Just the atmosphere was nice and the feeling in the Coliseum. Everybody’s on top of you, it’s cool.”

    Esa met with head coach Bob Huggins, who expressed his interest in coaching him in college.

    Ivan Rabb, the No. 1 player in the Class of 2015 according to ESPN.com and a potential NBA lottery pick in 2016, visited a trio of historic college basketball programs this week.

    The 6-foot-10, 210-pound post player from Oakland Bishop O’Dowd tripped to North Carolina, Duke and Georgetown on Monday-Tuesday and all three will continue to recruit him moving forward.

    “It was an incredible experience. I mean, how many people get a chance to visit Duke, Georgetown and North Carolina within 24 hours?” O’Dowd coach Lou Richie asked SNY.tv by phone Wednesday evening.

    “Probably nobody because you have to take officials and officials are 48-hours, so the one thing we walked away from it with was you have to surround yourself with great people. And we’re not just talking about basketball, we’re talking about great people. If you want to achieve greatness or you want to continue to get better, you have to have great people around you.”

    Georgetown, which has been on a recruiting roll as of late, was the last visit.

    Moustapha Diagne, a 6-foot-8 power forward from Sparta (N.J.) Pope John XXIII, will announce his college choice on Saturday after  playing in the Mary Kline Classic at West Orange (N.J.) High School, he told SNY.tv.

    Diagne will choose either Syracuse or Memphis.

    Two other 2015 Syracuse commits — Malachi Richardson and Frank Howard — are also in the Mary Kline event.

    Through 12 games on the EYBL circuit with the Playaz Basketball Club, Diagne is averaging 9.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks.

    UkraineKansas closed out the late signing period with a bang, signing Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, who chose the Jayhawks over Virginia or turning pro in Europe.

    A native of Cherkasy, Ukraine, Mykhailiuk is a dynamic 6-8, 195-pound shooting guard/small forward. The 16-year old will be eligible to play in the upcoming 2014-15 season. He will turn 17 in June, but already completed high school in the Ukraine, which would keep him in the college ranks for a minimum of two years due to the NBA Draft age requirement rules.

    “Obviously, this is great news for us,” Kansas coach Bill Self said in a statement. “He is 16 years old and will turn 17 in June, but his skill level, knowledge and aptitude for the game are way beyond his years. I think that he will be an immediate impact guy. He is a guy that can play all three positions on the perimeter. At 6-8, he can play point, play the No. 2 (guard) or the No. 3 (guard). He allows us to be more versatile next year and certainly, there would be few people that would shoot it better than him.”

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