Former Arizona commit Emmanuel Negedu of Brewster (N.H.) Academy is headed to the state of Tennessee, but he won’t play with Memphis.
“I’m going to the University of Tennessee,” the 6-foot-7, 230-pound Negedu told CBSSports.com. “Tennessee was one of the schools I considered before I (signed with) Arizona (last November), and when I visited there I liked the campus and I really got along with the players. It just seemed like a family. I love it. And I feel like I’ve known the coaches forever.”
Negedu chose Tennessee over Memphis, Georgia Tech and Indiana. He de-committed from Arizona after all of Lute Olson’s assistants left, including Josh Pastner, who went to Memphis.
An athletic, explosive post player, Negedu is ranked No. 40 by Rivals. He is expected to compete for minutes with Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith.
“Prior to Emmanuel’s verbal to Arizona, he was closely considering Tennesse,” Brewster coach Jason Smith said. “He had a relationship with Coach (Bruce) Pearl, but it was nice to visit campus and see the faclities. All of Tennessee’s players were on campus, which was great, because Emmanuel got an opportunity to get to spend a lot of time with potential teammates. Previously, Tennessee was a consideration because of style of play. Emmanuel had a chance to spend a lot of time hearing more about their system.”
