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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 / April 25.
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    • Articles

    NCAA Basketball: Providence at St. John'sSeeding for next week’s Big East Tournament is starting to take shape and red-hot St. John’s appears headed for the No. 4/5 game in the quarterfinals at approximately 2:30 on Thursday afternoon.

    Winners of four straight and 7-of-8, St. John’s (21-9, 10-7) would be the No. 5 seed if the tournament began today and could face No. 1 Villanova in the semifinals if they were to advance.

    St. John’s visits Villanova on Saturday in their final regular-season game.

    The Red Storm can make it to the No. 3 seed in a three-way at 11-7 with Georgetown and Providence (assuming Georgetown loses at home to Seton Hall and Providences loses at home to Butler, which seems like an unlikely scenario.)

    Articles

    Briscoe layupNow in its 14th year, the Jordan Brand Classic will return to Brooklyn, N.Y., in April with games showcasing the top boys, girls and international basketball players. For the third consecutive year, Barclays Center will host the top boys in the nation on Friday, April 17, as part of a quadruple-header event. These future stars follow in the footsteps of some of the greatest in the game, including Jordan Brand athletes Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Jabari Parker. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. EST.

    The International Game, now in its eighth year, will tip off the event by featuring elite 16-and-under basketball players from around the world at 1:30 p.m. EST.

    Articles, UCLA

    ALEX-OLESINSKI-141119-1Alex Olesinski, a 6-foot-10 2015 power forward from La Porte (IN) La Lumiere School, verbally committed to UCLA on his official visit, associate head coach Brad Johnstin confirmed to SNY.tv.

    Olesinski, who averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds and shot 44 percent from beyond the arc, also considered Boston College, Arizona State and Gonzaga, Johnstin said. UCLA assistant David Grace gets the assist on this one.

    His older brother, Marek Olesinski, is a senior forward at Air Force.

    “The combination of basketball tradition, high academics and location were factors [in his decision],” Johnstin said. “He’s extremely high academically and is originally from Roswell, N.M., so it will allow him to be close to home.

    St. John's

    NCAA Basketball: St. John's at MarquetteLook out for the Johnnies.

    Steve Lavin’s club has now won four straight and seven of eight after Rysheed Jordan went for 23 points as St. John’s beat Marquette 67-51 on Wednesday in Milwaukee.

    The Red Storm are now 21-9, 10-7 in the Big East heading into Saturday’s regular season finale at first-place Villanova.

    “I was proud of our kids and especially happy for our seniors in taking a step in the right direction toward their goals,” Lavin said. “At this stage of the year you really don’t grade the wins, you just want to accumulate them and move on.”

    St. John’s entered the day as a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament and facing No. 8 Dayton, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, but they certainly seem to be helping themselves.

    Articles, Seton Hall

    BY JEREMY FUCHS

    Sterling

    NEWARK — Seton Hall fell out of NCAA Tournament contention with a February swoon, losing six of seven, including two bad losses to DePaul and Marquette.

    Then, to make matters worse, star guard Sterling Gibbs was suspended two games for throwing a punch at Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono. He wasn’t having his best month up until then, averaging 13 points in the five games he played.

    In his return Wednesday night against No. 24 Providence, a 79-66 loss, Gibbs showed just how important he is to the team’s offensive flow. Beyond that, Gibbs’ strong play showed just how good he is.

    Articles, Recruiting, St. John's

    Craig RandallSt. John’s and St. Mary’s are among the schools recruiting Craig Randall, a 6-foot-4 lead guard from Phoenix (AZ) Shadow Mountain who plans to commit this spring.

    St. John’s assistant Tony Chiles saw 2015 Randall go for 24 points and 7 rebounds last Wednesday.

    “St. John’s just offered me last Thursday, I think I’m going on a visit to St. Mary’s next weekend so they’ll probably offer me on the visit,” Randall told SNY.tv by phone.

    Articles

    mudiay1Naismith Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown says Emmanuel Mudiay could be the next John Wall, and says numerous NBA teams have called him to discuss the Congolese-American point guard, including the Philadelphia 76ers.

    “I look at John and the way he’s evolved and I feel comfortable that Emmanuel is a lot like that,” Brown told SNY.tv by phone on Wednesday.

    The 6-foot-4 Wall was the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft out of Kentucky, while the 6-5 Mudiay is projected as a top-5 pick in this year’s draft. DraftExpress.com projects Mudiay at No. 4.

    Mudiay, who initially signed with SMU before electing to play in China, on Tuesday ended his season with Guangdong of the Chinese Basketball Association. The 6-5 guard went for 15 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 6 turnovers in 44 minutes of Guangdong’s Game 4 loss in the semifinals of the CBA playoffs. Before that game, he hadn’t played since Nov. 23 due to injury.

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