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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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    • Breaking News, Louisville

    Jordan Nwora, the 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward from Vermont Academy and the NY Rens, has committed to Louisville following an official visit this past weekend, he told ZAGSBLOG.

    A Buffalo, N.Y., native ranked the No. 21 small forward in the Class of 2017 by 247Sports.com, Nwora also considered Georgia Tech, Cal, Utah and N.C. State. He said he’s uncertain if he will sign in November or in the spring.

    “They told me I could come in and make a big impact right away and play a lot of minutes as a freshman,” Nwora said Wednesday by phone. “Coach [Rick] Pitino said he knows for sure that he can get me to the league [NBA] fast. So him and Coach [Kenny] Johnson made it clear that I would be able to come in and make an impact right away and play a lot and get to the league.

    “I felt really good about it, especially it being said from a Hall of Fame coach so I knew that it would be a good decision.”

    Nwora joins 7-footer Malik Williams and 6-2 guard Darius Perry in Louisville’s 2017 class. He’s the third Rens player to commit this fall, following Christ the King point guard Jose Alvarado, who chose Georgia Tech, and forward Samson George, who picked Iona. He’s also the third Vermont Academy commit, following Christian David (Butler) and Marcus Santos-Silva (VCU).

    Knicks, NBA

    GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Derrick Rose will likely start for the Knicks in their season-opener at Cleveland on Tuesday despite missing two weeks of the preseason because of his civil trial for gang rape.

    Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said Tuesday Rose “probably” would start against LeBron James and the Cavaliers, who will be getting their NBA championship rings on the same night the Indians could play Game 1 of the World Series in Cleveland.

    “We’ll have to see how he is, but I would anticipate yes, he probably would,” Hornacek said “If we had no practices or one practice and then we had to play the game then maybe it would be a different story. But we have three days to practice, he was there at training camp, so he has seen our stuff.

    St. John's

    The greatest revelation from the 30 for 30 on “Phi Slama Jama” is that St. John’s appears to have missed out on Naismith Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon.

    In the documentary that aired Tuesday night on ESPN, former Houston captain Eric Davis told the story of how Olajuwon, a native of Lagos, Nigeria, came to be a part of the Houston program that reached three straight Final Fours from 1982-84.

    “Hakeem lands at JFK in New York and St. John’s is supposed to meet him,” Davis recalled. “No one’s there. He has three other tickets. One for Louisville, the University of Houston and Providence. He walks outside at JFK and it’s cold.”

    NBA

    Russell Westbrook may have lost his running buddy Kevin Durant, but oddsmakers figure he will have a monster year now as a result.

    Westbrook is the favorite to win NBA MVP honors at 2/1 ahead of Steph Curry (9/2) and LeBron James (9/2), according to Bovada.lv.

    On the NBA GM survey, James leads the MVP voting at 46.7 percent to Curry’s 23.3 percent.

    Meantime, former Oklahoma star Buddy Hield of New Orleans faces odds of 7/2 to win Rookie of the Year honors, while former Providence star Kris Dunn of Minnesota is at 4/1.

    On the GM survey, Dunn leads at 46.7 percent compared to 13.3 percent for both Dunn and Ben Simmons of Philadelphia.

    Dunn and Hield both spent four years on campus, while Simmons was a one-and-done at LSU. Simmons, of course, is out approximately eight weeks with a foot injury.

    Breaking News, Kentucky

    John Calipari’s goal of having half of the NBA All-Star Game comprised of Kentucky products may not have come to fruition yet, but many of his former players are legitimate NBA stars.

    In the annual NBA GM survey, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis and Devin Booker all received recognition.

    Towns, the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year from Piscataway, N.J. and the Minnesota Timberwolves, was the pick of 48.3 percent of general managers for who they would sign if they were starting a franchise from scratch.

    Golden State’s Kevin Durant was a distant second at 20.7 percent, while LeBron James was third at 17.2 percent.

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