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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 19.

  • Josh Sharma, a 7-foot, 220-pound power forward from Northfield (MA) Mount Hermon, pulled the trigger for Stanford on Wednesday, choosing The Cardinal over Wisconsin and Boston College.

    “I was looking for a school with great academics and high-level basketball, but also a place that would help me get to the next level,” Sharma told SNY.tv. “I think Stanford offers all of that and more.”

    Sharma is the No. 24-ranked power forward in the Class of 2015 according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

    St. . John's vs VillanovaNEW YORK —  St. John’s was picked third in the Big East Preseason poll behind Villanova and Georgetown, and make no mistake: The pressure is on the Johnnies to make the NCAA Tournament this season.

    “If we don’t make the NCAA Tournament, it’s going to be a complete failure of the year. Hands down,” senior guard D’Angelo Harrison, a First-Team All-Big East pick, told SNY.tv Wednesday at Media Day.

    The Johnnies had a chance to make the NCAAs last year despite starting the season 0-5 in the Big East, but lost to eventual Big East Tournament champion Providence in the first round of the Big East and then fell to Robert Morris in the opening round of the NIT.

    This year the Johnnies have no excuses.

    Elijah Thomas ended his recruitment on Tuesday by picking Texas A&M where he will team up with his friend Admon Gilder, who was at Thomas’s announcement along with fellow A&M pledges D.J. Hogg and Tyler Davis.

    The 6-foot-9 Thomas out of Lancaster (TX) also considered SMU, Oklahoma State, LSU and Illinois.

    “He is really good friends with Admon, they have always wanted to play together,” one coach at a school recruiting Thomas told SNY.tv.

    “Then you’ve got Texas A&M and my bruh just committed there,” Thomas told USA Today in his recent blog. “If I went there that would make 4 of the top 5 in the state committed there. They were the first to offer me a scholarship when I was in the eighth grade and I’m close with the team and the coaches. So I know it would be a good look.”

    Antonio Blakeney has upcoming visits set for Kentucky and LSU and may wait until the spring to announce, he told Evan Daniels Scout.com.

    The 6-foot-4 Louisville decommit out of Sarasota (FL) Oak Ridge will visit Kentucky the weekend of Nov. 1 and LSU the following weekend. He’s also considering Missouri, North Carolina and N.C. State.

    “What sticks out the most [about Kentucky] is how coach Cal is for his players and he really wants his players to do well and make it to the next level,” Blakeney told Scout.

    “Most every player wants to make it the next level and when you have a coach pushing you to do that it really benefits you.”

    With the college basketball season about to begin, there is Big Pressure on the Big East.

    The conference went 2-4 in the NCAA Tournament last year and didn’t get a single team into the second weekend of the Big Dance.

    Many of the conference’s traditional heavyweights are now long gone, too.

    In the 15 years from 1999-2013, Big East teams won five NCAA championships, including three by UConn and one apiece from Syracuse and Louisville. Those latter two programs now reside in the ACC.

    UConn, which won its fourth title since 1999 last year as a member of the American, is also an ex-Big East member.

    BriscoeMSG3Isaiah Briscoe visited St. John’s practice Tuesday at Madison Square Garden and plans to  cut his list to three schools on Saturday before making his final decision.

    The visit to St. John’s was first reported by NJ Advance Media and confirmed to SNY.tv by a source. (The picture is courtesy @gionysports.)

    Briscoe said by text and Twitter that he will cut to three on Saturday.

    “We’re just talking as a family right now and just trying to do this thing,” George Briscoe said. “There will only be three schools and then that’s going to be a wrap.

    “That will be the plan, to get three and then decide.”

    The 6-foot-3 Roselle (N.J.) Catholic point guard is coming off a successful visit to St. John’s and has also tripped to UConn, Kentucky, Missouri and Seton Hall. His father said they had yet to cut the list down.

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