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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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Wednesday / December 11.
  • NEW YORK — Jersey Boys Wade Baldwin, Malachi Richardson and DeAndre’ Bembry all went in the first round of the NBA Draft Thursday night, solidifying the state’s reputation for producing some of the world’s top basketball talent.

    The 6-foot-4 Baldwin out of Vanderbilt went first, at No. 17 to the Memphis Grizzlies.

    The 6-5 Bembry out of St. Joe’s was taken at No. 21 by the Atlanta Hawks.

    And the 6-6 Richardson from Syracuse was taken immediately after at No. 22 by the Charlotte Hornets (who conveyed the pick to the Sacramento Kings).

    NEW YORK — Malachi Richardson and Wade Baldwin were seated at a pair of elevated tables about 20 feet apart on Wednesday afternoon at NBA Draft Media Day at the Grand Hyatt New York.

    It only seemed appropriate that the two Jersey Boys were addressing the media at the same time since their prep careers in the Garden State overlapped and intersected at critical moments.

    Three years ago, Richardson and current Syracuse forward Tyler Roberson teamed to lead Roselle Catholic to its first New Jersey Tournament of Champions title with a 65-49 victory over a St. Joe’s-Metuchen team that included Baldwin and Karl-Anthony Towns, the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft out of Kentucky.

    “I hate him because he beat me in junior year in TOC,” the 6-foot-4 Baldwin said with a smile. “I’m just kidding, but it’s cool. I was watching that Syracuse game where [Richardson] was knocking down shot after shot and scoring at will [against Virginia]. It’s happy when you see a kid that you’ve been playing against your entire life and you guys made it up one spot. It’s pretty cool.”

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