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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 / April 18.
  • St. John’s has been relatively quiet on the recruiting front in recent weeks, but that could start to change soon.

    Amar Alibegovic, a 6-foot-9 Bosnian forward who could suit up for the 2014-15 season and whom head coach Steve Lavin recently went to watch, will visit the school the week of Aug. 10, sources told SNY.tv. For more on Alibegovic, read this previous story.

    Meantime, St. John’s remains focused on 2015 high school targets Isaiah Briscoe, Cheick Diallo, Tyler Dorsey, Brandon Sampson and Malik Beasley as well as JUCO targets Tanksley Efianayi of Daytona State, Deshawn Freeman of Hutchinson and Andre Spight of South Plains.

    By JOSEPH DURUAKU

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    GARDEN GROVE, CA — Dennis Smith is already a household name in the recruiting world, and he’s only a junior in high school. Through three days at the Adidas Nations, Smith has performed at the highest level possible.

    His first game was more of the young guard imposing his will on the defense. He was scoring from every spot on the floor; the defense had no answer for him. His fearlessness when attacking the rim allows Smith to finish over much bigger and stronger defenders.

    Smith is the highes-ranked point guard in the Class of 2016 and the second highest-ranked prospect from North Carolina. The 6-foot-1 guard has garnered a lot of attention from programs across the nation.

    Arizona coach Sean Miller continued to build a strong 2015 recruiting class with the addition Sunday of Findlay Prep shooting guard Allonzo Trier.

    The 6-foot-4 Trier, who dropped 42 points on the Playaz Basketball Club in one game at Peach Jam, joins point guard Justin Simon and wing Ray Smith in Arizona’s 2015 class.

    “My relationship with Coach Miller and the way they recruited me was the difference,” Trier told ESPN.com while on a weekend visit to Tucson. “It’s a family program, a players program. I just fell in love with everything.”

    Wiggy CavsWith reports circulating that Kevin Love is “likely” to be traded by Aug. 23 or 24, Andrew Wiggins’s days in Cleveland appear to be numbered.

    Appearing in a somewhat awkward interview on SportsCenter, the soft spoken Wiggins, the No. 1 overall pick in June’s NBA Draft, said he just wants to be wanted.

    “I just want to play for a team that wants me, so whichever team wants me I’ll play for,” Wiggins said.

    Asked if he expected to end up being a teammate of LeBron James in Cleveland, Wiggins added: “I don’t really know what to say. When I’m in Cleveland I’m going to play as hard as I can, give it my all and I’ll play for whoever.”

    Joe Hampton, a 6-foot-7 2016 power forward from DeMatha (MD) Catholic, committed to Penn State Saturday during his visit.

    Ironically, Hampton’s 247Sports.com page showed 100 percent of recruiting “experts” picking Maryland as Hampton’s destination. He also reportedly had interest from Georgetown, Clemson and Boston College.

    Instead, he will suit up for head coach Pat Chambers after he finishes up at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, where he recently transferred.

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