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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 / March 29.
  • Briscoe Peach Jam actionIsaiah Briscoe, Rawle Alkins, T.J. Gibbs and Bryce Aiken are among the top New York/New Jersey-area prospects who are expected in attendance Friday night for Seton Hall’s Basketball Tip-Off Party at Walsh Gym.

    The 6-foot-3 2015 Briscoe of Roselle Catholic is coming off back-to-back visits to UConn and Kentucky and will trip to Missouri Oct. 10 and St. John’s Oct. 17 for officials. He recently told SNY.tv he may sign in the fall as opposed to the spring.

    The 6-5 2016 Alkins of Christ the King has hosted a several coaches recently, including Louisville’s Rick Pitino, Cincinnati’s Mick Cronin and Indiana’s Tom Crean.

    Thomas Bryant has postponed his weekend visit to Indiana because of a school project and will now visit the Big Ten school Oct. 17-19, Huntington (W.V.) Prep coach Arkell Bruce told SNY.tv.

    Bryant recently visited Syracuse and will visit Missouri the weekend of Oct. 10, when guards Isaiah Briscoe and Antonio Blakeney are also expected.

    Bruce said the Rochester (N.Y.) big man is basically working with those three schools — Missouri, Indiana and Syracuse — as of now, and will commit “whenever he’s ready.”

    “Yes, I don’t know if he’s going to let anybody else in or that’s it,” Bruce said. “I know a few others reached out and mom said they weren’t interested.”

    MillerButler announced that men’s basketball head coach Brandon Miller will take a leave of absence.

    Assistant Chris Holtmann is the interim head coach.

    “Brandon Miller has requested a leave of absence for medical reasons, which the University has granted,” Butler AD Barry Collier. “We are not in a position to further elaborate and we ask that everyone respect Brandon’s privacy.”

    4_2942457By JACK LeGWIN

    Antonio Blakeney is taking his time on figuring out what the next step will be after his decommitment from Louisville.

    Blakeney’s AAU coach at E1T1 Elite, Steven Reece, says that Blakeney will announce his visits, even Big Blue Madness, at a later date, despite previous reports.

    “We are going to go over all of his visits in about a week or so,” Reece told SNY.tv. “We aren’t going to go over anything until all of his in-home visits are finished.” 

    Here’s your look-ahead to the weekend’s recruiting visits and other news. This list will be updated throughout the weekend:

    **Malik Newman will be at Ole Miss Saturday for the SEC football game with Alabama. He is also slated to visit Texas A&M Oct. 11, and will reportedly release a top five before the start of his high school season.

    **Justin Robinson, a 6-1 point guard from Manassas (VA) St. James, is at UNLV. He plans to announce Oct. 12, and is also considering Maryland Providence and Virginia Tech.

    **Seton Hall on Friday night hosted a slew of big New York/New Jersey names including Isaiah Briscoe, Rawle Alkins, T.J. Gibbs, Bryce Aiken, Asante Gist and Veer Singh. Read more here.

    **Chris Clarke, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Virginia Beach (VA) Cape Henry Collegiate School, trips to Tennessee. He’s also been to UConn, Creighton and Virginia Tech.

    adidas UnrivaledCarlton Bragg is now down to four schools after Arizona opted to stop recruiting him.

    The 6-foot-8 Bragg from Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph will now choose from among Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA and Illinois, with whom he had his final in-home visit on Tuesday night.

    “Arizona dropped out,” Michael Graves, Bragg’s mentor, told SNY.tv. “They informed us that they love Carlton but they’re going to pursue other people.”

    Illinois is seen as a long shot for Bragg — only 6 percent of pundits on the 247Sports Crystal Ball picked the Illini — but that didn’t stop head coach John Groce and two assistants from making their pitch.

    “They spent a lot of time really just talking with the family about how they’ve been there from the beginning,” Graves said.“They have been one of the only schools to recruit him hard, like he needed to be recruited. They treated him like he was their top priority, that was one thing that they stressed. They haven’t missed a game in two years with somebody from their staff. If it wasn’t Coach Groce, it was Dustin [Ford], Jamall [Walker] or Paris [Parham]. They really stressed the point that they’ve been there from the beginning.”

    JustinHofstra scored a shooting guard Wednesday night when they got a commitment from Justin Wright-Foreman, a 6-foot-1, 173-pound scorer from Queens Construction High School.

    Playing for the New York Rens, Wright-Foreman dropped 48 points on the Ohio Basketball Club in the adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas and was the second leading scorer in the event.

    He also considered Manhattan, Iona, Fairfield and Kent State, among others.

    “Hofstra was just a special place to me,” he told SNY.tv. “As soon as I stepped on campus I felt at home. On my official visit, I figured out exactly what I wanted. Everybody on campus treated me like I go to the school. They were very straight forward with telling me the ins and out of the school. I just felt comfortable.”

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