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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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Monday / April 29.
  • St. John’s guard Shamorie Ponds is one of 27 players in Colorado Springs, Colo., trying out for the USA U19 team coached by Kentucky’s John Calipari, but as he looks ahead to his sophomore season he says it will be a “failure” if the Red Storm don’t make the NCAA Tournament.

    “Personally, I believe it’s a failure [if we don’t],” he said Monday night by phone.

    Ponds believes St. John’s is developing and should contend for a spot in the Big Dance in 2018.

    “I think Chris Mullin’s first year was a bad year,” he said. “This year was a better improvement and we see what we can do when we play together and the teams we could beat like Syracuse, Butler, Marquette, Seton Hall. So I just believe that if we just stick to what Chris Mullin and the coaching staff is doing, it’s no doubt in my mind we should have a spot in the NCAA Tournament.”

    Jake Forrester, the 6-foot-9, 210-pound power forward from the Westtown (PA) School and the PSA Cardinals AAU program, took an unofficial visit to Seton Hall on Monday.

    The Pirates view Forrester as a big priority for 2018 when they will lose forwards Angel Delgado and Ish Sanogo.

    “With them gone, I would come in and work hard and become a major priority in the system they run,” he said by phone. “I would come in, put in the work and become a major part at Seton Hall.”

    Duke forward Jayson Tatum worked out Monday for the Boston Celtics, a source confirmed to ZAGSBLOG.

    ESPN first reported the workout.

    The Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers on Monday finalized a trade for the No. 1 pick in which the Celtics would also add the Sixers’ first-round pick in 2018, which came via the Lakers and is protected 2-5.

    The 6-foot-8 Tatum is currently projected as the No. 3 pick to the Celtics per DraftExpress.com, while the site has Kansas’ Josh Jackson going No. 4 to Phoenix.

    One source said it’s a “tossup” for the Celtics between the two wings.

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