The Recruiting Trail.....

Three seniors have committed to come play for the Mocs next year.

Yes, we know that in each of the last two year's, recruits have not made it to campus- Xavian Rimmer and Manny Ochenje two years ago, and Joshu'a Warren this year.

So, this may not be the time to take this too seriously. They have not even signed yet officially. We may be overreacting to everything.

But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited about these commitments.

Jonathan Stark

The first one to commit was Jonathan Stark. He is somewhere right around 6-0 feet tall. (Many places list him as shorter, but I have seen him listed at six feet, so we'll go with that.) He is considered one of the best point guards in all of Memphis. Reportedly, he had offers from Arkansas-Pine Bluff, TCU, George Mason, Lipscomb, Western Kentucky and Long Island. Arkansas and Tennessee also showed some early interest, but backed off. When watching a video of him on YouTube, you can see that he's got a decent first step into the lane, and that he has some range on his jumper- all the way out into three point range. He also has some jumping ability, and some hang time. Reports are that at the Next Level Tournament in Dallas in 2012, he averaged a double-double in assists and points. He is athletic. Will he push Cobb for a starting point guard spot? We'll know more after seeing Cobb play against D1 competition. We'll know even more once Stark gets onto campus and plays against D1 competition.  At this point, Stark looks like a very capable point guard and someone the Mocs should be excited about.

Christian Kennedy

The next two both have committed just this week, and were huge finds for the the Mocs. Kennedy is 6-10, 200 pounds. He is a tall man. He needs to add a little bulk, probably, but he's tall. And you can't coach tall. He's rated as a 3 star player by 247sports. He is also rated an 84 out of 100 by 247sports. He is not rated at this point by many other sites. I checked ESPN, Rivals, and Scout, but did not see a rating. He had offers from Furman, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Presbyterian, and possibly Auburn. He does not seem to be a big scorer, but he is a big body, with (based on his statistics) very strong defensive ability. He is a rebounder and a shot blocker. Can he score? I guess we'll have to wait and see about his offensive ability, but there's no doubt this guy will have a big time impact on the Mocs.

TJ Williams

His recruiting has been anything but normal, but Williams has committed to the Mocs. He first committed back in August after just one conversation with Coach Shulman and having never visited campus. He visited campus and very quickly recommitted to the Mocs. He is 6-8 and tweeted out that he was joining the Mocs on Wednesday. He is a very good big man, and will do a lot of good work on the post for the Mocs once he gets to campus. He is a two star recruit on ESPN and a three star recruit on Scout. Williams is probably the stud of the class at this point. If you combine him with Kennedy, they have a potent inside presence coming to the program next year. That's really good news for a team that has Z Mason and Drazen Zlovaric who are the two starters in the post and are a junior and a senior.

The last recruit for next year? Looks like it could be Joshu'a Warren resigning. Warren has said previously that he's interested in returning to the Mocs. We'll have to see if that holds true or not.

Right now, this class looks pretty solid for the Mocs. Coach Shulman and company have done a good job getting this group together to this point. Let's hope they all sign in the early signing period and then all make it into school by next fall.

GO MOCS!