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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.
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=debsxlAREPU

    Drake and Ray Allen each highlighted a Midnight Madness event on Friday, but that’s about where the similarities end.

    Drake air-balled a 3-point attempt at Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness, while Allen, who was featured at UConn’s First Night and remains undecided about playing in the NBA this season, is the league’s all-time leading 3-point shooter.

    Despite his miss, Drake’s mere presence may have an impact on Kentucky visitors like Malik Newman, who previously said he was excited about the possibility of meeting the rap star.

    “[Calipari] said Drake might come this year,” Newman, the top point guard in the nation, told the Clarion-Ledger before the visit. “That would be a really good event to go to. It really lets me know what they’re working with and that [Kentucky] has a lot of connections.”


    Cal UKAs far as favorites go, the 2014-15 version of the Kentucky basketball team isn’t exactly Mike Tyson taking on Buster Douglas or the 1980 Soviet hockey team facing Team USA for Olympic gold.

    They’re still just one program that will likely end up in a field of 67 other teams in the NCAA Tournament come March.

    But make no mistake, the Wildcats are favored to win their ninth NCAA championship on April 6 in Indianapolis.

    Kentucky was installed as the preseason No. 1 pick in the Coaches’ Poll on Thursday, ahead of Arizona, Duke, Wisconsin and Kansas.

    Coach John Calipari’s team has nine McDonald’s All-Americans.

    Tyus BattleTyus Battle is expected to be the lone junior on hand for Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness tonight, and he’s already looking to cut down his list in December.

    Kentucky figures to be a safe bet to make the list for the 6-foot-6 junior guard from Gladstone (N.J.) Gill St. Bernard’s who is ranked No. 14 in the Class of 2016 by ESPN.com.

    “Coach Cal is an amazing guy,” Battle told SNY.tv in reference to Kentucky’s John Calipari. “He keeps it real with you. He produces a lot of pros, develops his guys really well, and it’s a winning program.”

    Battle said he likes Calipari’s approach to recruiting.

    Briscoe Peach Jam 2On the eve of their Red Storm Tip-Off on Friday night, St. John’s went four deep Thursday to watch Roselle (N.J.) Catholic point guard Isaiah Briscoe in his first workout since getting the boot on his foot removed.

    The 6-foot-3 Briscoe fractured his foot over the summer and has been in a walking boot since July.

    St. John’s coach Steve Lavin watched Briscoe at RC along with assistants Rico Hines, Tony Chiles and Jim Whitesell.

    Briscoe is due to visit St. John’s beginning Friday along with his father, George. St. John’s will also host 2015s Cheick Diallo and Brandon Sampson in what is a critical recruiting period for the Johnnies, who have six seniors on the roster.

    John CalipariBy JOSH NEWMAN

    If there is a sneaker company controversy as Louisville head coach Rick Pitino suggested recently, Kentucky head coach John Calipari isn’t buying into it.

    “I’ve been doing this a long time,” Calipari said at Kentucky Media Day on Thursday according to Courier-Journal beat writer Kyle Tucker. “When I first got started, my team was in Reebok. Then my team went to L.A. Gear. All I asked was, ‘Please don’t have us in the light-up shoes.’ They were very heavy, but we wore them. Then my team went to Adidas. And I’ve been with Nike.”

    “All I can tell you is, it’s not had an effect on how I did this job. But people have their opinions on it.”

    GilderAdmon Gilder is staying in state.

    The 6-foot-3, 195-pound shooting guard from Dallas (TX) James Madison committed to Texas A&M on Thursday, choosing the Aggies over Oklahoma State, Baylor and SMU

    He visited A&M this past weekend and that was enough to put him over the top.

    “It went real good, I liked it a lot,” Gilder said of A&M before the announcement. “It kind of opened my eyes on a lot of things. They see me as a combo guard that can play the one and the two and be a scorer and also a distributor.”

    Gilder is the latest four-star recruit to commit to coach Billy Kennedy, joining center Tyler Davis and small forward D.J. Hogg in what his shaping up to be a really balanced and strong class.

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