Juicy Recruiting Details
As the Early Signing Period wraps almost all of the high school basketball players in Tennessee remain unsigned.
These are the exceptions.
James Wiseman (PrepHoopsTN #1) will announce his commitment to either Kentucky, Florida State, or Memphis Tuesday morning (11:00 A.M. Central) on ESPN’s Sportscenter.
I do not know his pick, but Memphis Head Coach Penny Hardaway already successfully recruited him away from Bradley Beal Elite to Team Penny and Ensworth High School to Memphis East.
Do not bet against the machinations of Penny.
Introducing early signee, 6 foot guard hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, Mark Freeman!
Welcome to the Big 🔵 Family!#BigBlueRising pic.twitter.com/58BgAsq0qa
— Tennessee State Men's Basketball (@TSUTigersMBB) November 19, 2018
Former Class of 2018 #5 Mark Freeman (Southwind graduate) signed with Tennessee State University after spending this year as a post-grad in a new Atlanta prep school.
The tenth best prospect in the state, Antonio Thomas (East) signed with Bradley University in Illinois. He was a guard for Team Thad AAU.
State Champion Chandler Lawson signed to Oregon. He was also considering Ole Miss. His two older brothers play for Kansas University.
Drew Pember signed to Tennessee. He is the only player in the top 10 Tennessee recruited until the end. Though Tennessee initially showed a lot of interest in Jason Jitoboh (PrepHoopsTN #6) they essentially pulled that offer last month leading JJ to re-open his recruitment.
Tennessee is much more aggressive in the Class of 2020, especially targeting Keon Johnson. Saturday all three coaches allowed evaluated Keon in person. Johnson’s Webb-Bell Buckle team played against two wonderful teams (Cleveland, Knox Webb) in Knoxville.
Duos
A few schools featured two college basketball signees this week.
Bartlett’s newcomer Antavion Collum and classic program guy Jalen Cincore signed. Collum is inked to Ole Miss and Cincore will play next year for Georgia Southern. He picked them over UNC-Asheville.
Two Grace Christian Academy players signed. Grant Ledford (Chattanooga) and CJ Gettelfinger (Oakland) ended their college recruitment selection process.
K.J. Johnson signed to Lipscomb. AAU-teammate Carson Cary will be a preferred walk-on for Lipscomb.
If James Wiseman picks Memphis, then he and Malcolm Dandridge will become the only top 10 pair to pick the same school.
Still Looking
Elijah Cobb and Deron Perry, both of Riverdale High, will be evaluated by Florida College. Florida College offered Elijah back in the late spring and Deron earlier this month.
Neither Bearden starting guard Ques Glover nor Trent Stephney will sign this week. They are both D1 good.
Many top 100 prospects will exit the signing period unsigned. Take a look at who is out looking.