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The Morning Fast Break (Nov. 10, 2016): Josh Hart, National Signing Day recaps and more

After a brief absence, we’re back.

By Christopher Novak@ChrisMNovak Nov 10, 2016, 8:40am EST

NCAA Basketball: Final Four Championship Game-Villanova vs North Carolina

Hello! We’re back after a short absence.

College basketball is one day away. One... day... away.

We’ve nearly made it folks.

The early signing period is here (Anonymous Eagle)

Recruits in the high school graduating class of 2017 can sign their national letters of intent starting today, November 9th, all the way through November 16th. Both men’s head coach Steve Wojciechowski and women’s head coach Carolyn Kieger are expecting to officially announce signees at some point over the next week. Since those players are already verbally committed to play for Marquette, those announcements should come at some point during the day today.

Xavier’s 2017 class is officially in (Banners on the Parkway)

Xavier knew it had a good class for 2017, but today made that official. Once the National Letters of Intent come in, the players are all but in uniform and on the bench. Most seasons Xavier has one or two good players and some players who could build into stars. This year, Xavier brought in two top 100 prospects (more than the American Athletic Conference) and the worst ranked prospect is a 6-11, 285 pound monster who graded out as a 75. Did Xavier Athletics have social media? You know they did.

Priming the Hoyas (Casual Hoya)

Unlike in recent years, I don't have the sense that the upcoming basketball season is sneaking up on us. Instead, it actually feels like we've been waiting an eternity for the games to begin. Last year's team, by JTIII's admission, was disappointing. The Hoyas finished 15-18, good enough for eighth in the Big East, and failed to reach the postseason for the first time in Thompson's twelve years as head coach. We lost to Radford, Monmouth and UNC Asheville. And the disparate pieces of that team never really came together.

St. John’s gets their man (Rumble in the Garden)

St. John’s received the formal paperwork signing Zach Brown, a 7’1”, 260 pound center from Miami, to the Red Storm for next season. Brown committed over the summer in July, and cited the positive support from Chris Mullin and the staff as a major reason why he committed. Brown had recently left the powerhouse Putnam Science Academy prep program after a fight on the court, and is also dealing with some robbery charges that the staff is confident will be dropped or reduced to a minor charge.

Gotta have Hart (VU Hoops)

Hart was a talented recruit to Villanova, but it wasn't until entering last season that he really started to draw the eyes of NBA scouts. He became a vital piece of the Wildcats' starting line-up as a junior, chipping in for a lot of points, and lining up at the 3 and 4 where he was often mismatched against opposing forwards.