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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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    • Recruiting

    Quade Green signed his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday night — the last day of the NCAA early signing period — and has already informed his future team where he is going, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told ZAGSBLOG.

    The 6-foot-1 Green out of Neumann-Goretti will announce on Saturday night at his school for either Syracuse or Kentucky. Duke, Temple and Villanova, which were on his final list of five, are no longer in the mix, as Ben Roberts reported.

    The early signing period ran Nov. 9-16, but Green will count as part of the early signing period since he has already signed.

    Green was a guest of Kentucky on Tuesday night at the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden when the No. 2 Wildcats beat No. 13 Michigan State, 69-48.

    He sat with Mohamed Bamba, a 7-footer who is Green’s teammate with the PSA Cardinals and who will sign in the spring, as well as Kentucky signee Nick Richards and other recruits. Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, who won an NCAA championship at Syracuse, also sat courtside.

    Breaking News, Duke

    NEW YORK — Don Showalter has coached Jayson Tatum, Harry Giles and Marques Bolden with various USA Basketball youth teams.

    The 6-foot-8 Tatum and the 6-10 Giles each won three gold medals with USA Basketball, while the 6-11 Bolden played in the Hoop Summit last April that is associated with USA Basketball.

    So Showalter knows all about the vast reservoirs of talent the three injured Duke freshmen forwards possess.

    And he knows that Duke, which will likely lose its No. 1 ranking to Kentucky on Monday, figures to be a completely different team once the freshmen hit the court.

    “Duke could be scary good provided they can share the ball and play unselfish,” Showalter, an eight-time USA Basketball gold medalist head coach, told ZAGSBLOG. “Those three are lottery picks.”

    Recruiting

    ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU will televise 11 premier games as part of the 2016-17 GEICO ESPN High School Basketball Showcase, beginning Thursday, December 1, when two Tennessee schools – Hamilton Heights Christian Academy and No. 13 Memphis East – face off at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

    The slate of games, which features 12 ranked teams, includes several back-to-back games from Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass., on Saturday, Jan. 14, and Monday, Jan. 16.

    Highlights

    • Top Five Recruits in the Class of 2017: The top five players in the class of 2017 will be featured – No. 1 C DeAndre Ayton, (Hillcrest Academy, Ariz.), No. 2 SF Michael Porter Jr. (Nathan Hale, Wash.), No. 3 PF Wendell Carter (Pace Academy, Ga), No. 4 C Mohamed Bamba (Westown School, Pa.) and No. 5 PG Trevon Duval (IMG Academy, Fla.).
    • No. 1 Ranked Player in Each Class: The No. 1 ranked player from each recruiting class will be featured including senior DeAndre Ayton, (Hillcrest Academy, Ariz.), junior Marvin Bagley III (Sierra Canyon, Calif.) and sophomore R.J. Barrett (Montverde Academy, Fla.).
    • Ranked Teams: The Showcase features 12 nationally ranked teams in the country, including No. 1 La Lumiere (Ind.), No. 2 Oak Hill Academy (Va.), No. 3 Sierra Canyon (Calif.), No. 4 IMG Academy (Fla.), No. 5 Bishop Montgomery (Calif.), No. 6 Montverde Academy (Fla.), No. 8 Wheeler (Ga.), No. 10 Patrick School (N.J.), No. 11 Westtown (Pa.), No. 13 Memphis East (Tenn.), No. 18 New Albany (Ind.) and No. 22 Nathan Hale (Wash.). Team rankings are per USA Today High School Sports as of November 2.
    • Top 25 matchups: Five Monday matchups feature a ranked team against another ranked team:
    Kansas

    NEW YORK — It’s always tough comparing one basketball player to another, but Kansas freshman Josh Jackson will inevitably get juxtaposed to Andrew Wiggins.

    Both are 6-foot-8 wings.

    Both signed on to play for Kansas coach Bill Self.

    And Jackson is expected to be a one-and-done in Lawrence just as Wiggins was.

    “It’s a fair comparison,” ESPN’s Jay Bilas told me before Jackson went for 15 points before fouling out of Kansas’ epic 77-75 win over No. 1 Duke on Tuesday in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden. “[Jackson] is more skilled with the ball and he’s a better passer. And he’s got a better feel for the game. Wiggins was a better shooter, although Josh is a pretty decent shooter. He’s better than I thought. He’s got a little hitch as he gets it up into his shooting pocket. But once it gets here it’s good and he shoots a good ball. So he’s gonna be fine.

    “He’s the real thing, he’s gonna be good.”

    Recruiting

    Some 30 NBA scouts are expected this weekend for the National Prep Showcase in New Haven, Conn.

    Hamidou Diallo, the 6-foot-6 shooting guard from Putnam Science Academy (CT), is the main attraction for the scouts and will be playing Friday and Saturday night.

    Diallo is eligible for the 2017 NBA Draft, as first reported by ZAGSBLOG, but has stated his desire to spend at least a year in college in 2017-18. He’s now projected as the No. 11 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com.

    NBA scouts can watch any game that features a post-grad player.

    Copyright 2016 Zagsblog. Partner of iOne Digital / Cassius Network
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