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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 26.
  • BryantBy JACK LeGWIN & ADAM ZAGORIA

    Bryant Crawford has committed to Wake Forest.

    “ITS BEEN A LONG PROCESS! THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THE SUPPORT! ITS OFFICIAL I AM COMMITTED TO WAKE FOREST! #godeacs” the 6-foot-3 point guard from Washington D.C. Gonzaga tweeted.

    The No. 80 ranked player by 247 Sports in the Class of 2015, Crawford committed to the Demon Deacons Sunday night.

    “Bryant brings to Wake Forest a pass-first point guard who has the ability to make plays for others,” Gonzaga coach Steve Turner told SNY.tv.

    Jean Marc Christ Koumadje , the 7-foot-4 big man out of Montverde (FL) Academy, is planning to make his college announcement in early October, Koumadje’s mentor, Sulieman Holman, told SNY.tv Saturday

    Florida State remains the leader, but he’s also considering SMU and UCLA, while UConn and Georgia Tech remain in the mix.

    UCLA head man Steve Alford and UConn assistant Karl Hobbs are due to watch him Monday at Montverde.

    Koumadje will visit SMU Sept. 25-27 and may or may not visit UCLA in October.

    Add Caleb Swanigan to a growing list of high-profile 2015 recruits who plans to sign in the spring.

    The 6-foot-8 Swanigan out of Fort Wayne (IN) Homestead  joins a group that includes Jaylen Brown and Isaiah Briscoe among 2015 players who plan to sign late.

    “He’s going to take his time, I don’t anticipate him signing early,” Roosevelt Barnes, the NFL agent who is Swanigan’s guardian, told SNY.tv by phone Saturday. “He reclassified [to 2015] so he’s going to take his time and try to figure out what’s going to be the best system for him.”

    PitinoHACKENSACK, N.J. — Louisville coach Rick Pitino highlighted an array of college and pro coaches at the Brayden Carr Foundation clinic at Fairleigh Dickinson University on Friday, and Pitino later defended Coach K against charges that he holds a recruiting advantage as coach of Team USA.

    “Obviously, I think it’s a great cause,” Pitino told SNY.tv of the event, founded by Rhode Island assistant coach Jimmy Carr and his wife Natalie after their 2-year-old son Brayden died in 2011.

    Richard [Pitino] lost a brother and we lost a child, so we know the heartbreak that goes with that, and obviously being part of something for the great cause, besides representing coaches, is a terrific thing.”

    Pitino was featured at the event alongside Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg, South Carolina coach Frank Martin, Villanova coach Jay Wright, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey and former NBA coach George Karl.

    Arizona was the latest high-profile school to pitch Tyus Battle when assistant coach Book Richardson passed through the Gladstone (N.J.) Gill St. Bernard’s school on Friday.

    “Book did an outstanding job painting a clear picture of where Tyus would fit in at Arizona,” Gary Battle, Tyus’s father, told SNY.tv. “They like that he’s a big combo guard.”

    The 6-foot-5 Battle, a 2016 combo guard who won a gold medal with the USA U17 team at the FIBA World Championship in Dubai in July, has had a Who’s Who of high-major coaches see him in the past two weeks.

    Briscoe Peach Jam actionROSELLE, N.J. — Isaiah Briscoe plans to visit Kentucky in the coming weeks and is excited about the vision coach John Calipari shared with him during their in-home meeting Thursday night.

    Kentucky went three deep in the visit with Calipari joined by assistants Kenny Payne and Barry “Slice” Rohrssen.

    “[Calipari], Coach Payne and Slice sitting in my living room is just something that I dreamed of,” the 6-foot-3 Briscoe told SNY.tv. before his teammate Chris Silva, a 6-9 power forward, committed to South Carolina.

    Kentucky has yet to offer a scholarship but that could be forthcoming on an upcoming visit. Briscoe, who is still wearing a walking boot after fracturing his foot this summer, said he plans to visit either for Big Blue Madness Oct. 17 or the Blue-White Game Oct. 27.

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