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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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Sunday / October 6.
  • 8457726CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ron Patterson and B.J. Johnson are both transferring from Syracuse, according to reports from Syracuse.com and Scout.com.

    The 6-foot-2 Patterson averaged 2.6 points and recorded 49 assists this season.

    His AAU coach, Chris Hawkins, told Syracuse.com that the Indianapolis native  would likely transfer to “a school closer to home.”

    The 6-7 Johnson out of Philadelphia averaged 4.1 points and 3.1 rebounds in 25 games this past season, and it remains unclear where he will transfer to.

    NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-First Round-North Florida vs Robert MorrisCHARLOTTE, N.C. — Robert Morris guard Kavon Stewart is from Paterson, N.J., and Colonials forward Lucky Jones hails from Newark, two of the toughest inner-cities in the Garden State

    Yet coach Andy Toole believes his two North Jersey products didn’t really learn about toughness until they came to play for him.

    “I always tell them that they got tough when they came to hang out with me, and I’m a Jersey Shore guy,” Toole, a product of Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, N.J., jokingly said here Thursday. “That North Jersey toughness, I’m not sure I’m buying it.”

    No. 16 seed Robert Morris will need all the toughness it can muster when it goes up against Jahlil Okafor, the projected No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, and top-seeded Duke in a South Region game at 7:10 p.m. Friday night at Time Warner Cable Arena.

    https://vine.co/v/OYuxbmb0H1b

    By JACK LeGWIN

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —  R.J. Hunter knows he probably blew up more than a few NCAA Tournament brackets with his game-winning 3-pointer with 2 seconds remaining in a 57-56 win over Baylor.

    But he isn’t worried about that .

    It’s March and his shot from well beyond the arc certainly qualified as Madness.

    “We just fought to the end, and that is what we wanted to do,” Hunter said in the press conference after the game. “Thank God for that 50-footer.”

    Down 56-44  with 2:38 left, Georgia State closed the game on a 13-0 run to win the affair in thrilling fashion, becoming the second No. 14 seed to upset a 3 on Thursday following UAB’s win over Iowa State earlier. Hunter went on a 9-0 run by himself, which included the winning shot with 2 seconds left.

    NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Kentucky PracticeBy JOSH NEWMAN

    When Nassau Coliseum’s $229 million facelift is complete, the top college basketball program in the nation will get to experience it first.

    The Long Island Events Center, the management team for both Nassau Coliseum and Barclays Center in Brooklyn, announced on Thursday afternoon that Kentucky will play in the first sporting event at the renovated arena in Dec. 2016. The opponent has yet to be determined.

    According to ESPN’s Andy Katz, the opponent could be Hofstra, whose campus sits less than one mile from Nassau Coiseum

    “I wanted Kentucky to play in the first college basketball game at the renovated Long Island arena because I know what the venue’s resurgence will mean for the area,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said in a statement. “We played in the first college basketball game at Barclays Center (in 2012) and the atmosphere was incredible. I expect the same kind of intensity on Long Island, which is going to attract powerhouse teams from around the country and turn what will be a spectacular building into a hub for exciting college basketball.”

    NCAA Basketball: Duke at St. JohnCHARLOTTE, N.C. — Wisconsin senior Frank Kaminsky, Kentucky junior Willie Cauley-Stein, Notre Dame junior Jerian Grant and Duke freshman Jahlil Okafor were named finalists Thursday for the Naismith Trophy.

    Should Kaminsky win, he’ll become the sixth Big Ten player to earn the honors, and the third in six years, following Trey Burke of Michigan (2013) and Ohio State’s Evan Turner (2010). Notre Dame’s lone Naismith Trophy winner was Austin Carr in 1971, while Kentucky earned its only award in 2012 (Anthony Davis). Duke has won more Naismith Trophies (7) than any other school, and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) leads with 16.

    “We have four tremendously talented individuals playing key roles for their highly successful teams, so we believe that any of the finalists are worthy and deserving of the Naismith Trophy,” said Eric Oberman, Atlanta Tipoff Club executive director.

    Ray KasongoRay Kasongo, the 6-foot-10 power forward who had originally signed with Oregon before the school did not admit him, piled up scholarship offers this week at the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.

    The Toronto native went for 9 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday as the College of Southern Idaho lost to Georgia Highlands 67-66 on a go-ahead 3-pointer with 5 seconds remaining in the Round of 16.

    LSU, Kansas State, Seton Hall, UNLV, Ole Miss and Mississippi State all offered Kasongo this week, while Kentucky, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Oregon State and Wichita State have shown interest.

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