Several major commitments have gone down in the past few days.
As first reported last night on my Twitter, Dylan Johns, a 6-foot-10 center from the Houston Trent International School, has committed to LSU and plans to enroll in December.
Eugene Harris, the head coach at Trent, said Johns chose LSU over Baylor, Michigan State and Oklahoma STate.
“He has a real, real high skillset as far as athleticism around the basket,” Harris told SNY.tv by phone. “He has a good IQ for a big man, good hands, soft touch. He plays defense and can rebound good.”
Harris said Johns is now home in London and will return to the U.S. sometime this fall.
“He went back to London,” he said. “He’s not going to play this semester. He will probably come and train with the team and then go straight to school.”
Johns played at the Reebok Breakout Challenge in Philadelphia this past July with Colombian forward Tony Trocha. Like Johns, Trocha is planning on enrolling in an American school in December after taking intensive English classes, his mentor, Jamie Ibanez, told SNY.tv.
Ibanez said Kentucky, UCLA, Florida, Texas A&M and Rice are all holding scholarships for Trocha.
KARVIAR SHEPHERD TO TCU
New TCU coach Trent Johnson scored a major pickup Monday when Karviar Shepherd, the Rivals No. 3 center in the Class of 2013, picked the Horned Frogs.
“I liked TCU because it was close to home,” he told ESPN.com’s Reggie Rankin, who first reported the news. “I liked the coaching staff and how they improve Bigs.”
The 6-foot-9, 215-pound Shepherd out of Dallas Prime Prep Academy also considered Texas A&M, Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma.
MASON TO KANSAS
Frank Mason, a 5-foot-11 point guard from Massanutten (Va.) Military Academy, committed to Kansas over Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Providence, Seton Hall and Rutgers, according to the Journal-World.
“I chose KU because of its tradition, coach (Bill) Self’s winning percentage and the type of players they have there,” Mason told the paper. “I want to align myself with players of that ability and character. They are all the type of people I want to be around.
“It’s a great program, from academics to basketball. I talked with the players (on official visit last weekend) a lot and knew it was the right place for me. It’s a great program. They’ve won a lot of Big 12 championships, made a lot of Final Four appearances and have multiple national championships. It’s a dream come true.”
Mason initially committed to Towson but reopened his recruitment after not qualifying academically, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
