Count Tony Parker and Shaq Goodwin among the growing list of 2012 basketball stars who will likely sign during the late period in April.
That list already includes Shabazz Muhammad, Anthony Bennett, Ricardo Gathers, Torian Graham, Jordan Goodman, Devonta Pollard, Chris Obekpa, Winston Shepard, Savon Goodman and possibly Jarnell Stokes.
The 6-foot-9 Parker told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he is “almost positive” that he will wait until at least the middle of the season to decide between Duke, Ohio State, UCLA and Memphis.
“I want to study and research my schools a little more, watch them play some games, and get a better feel for each of the coaching staffs,” Parker told the AJC.
“It’s a big decision. I thought I would take some extra time, and my parents agreed. I talked to each of the schools about it, and they’re all fine with me waiting. I will probably commit sometime during the middle of the season.”
The 6-8 Goodwin, meantime, committed to Memphis but won’t sign until late.
Goodwin, who also considered Georgia, Arizona, UCLA and Florida, has said he would like to play both football and basketball in college. He told the AJC he will take at least two officials during the season, and an unofficial to Memphis.
“Shaq is committed to Memphis but we’ve decided to wait until after the season to sign the scholarship papers,” Goodwin’s mother told the AJC.
“As you can imagine, this is a life-changing decision for my son, and we want to make sure that he has fully considered his options and done all of the necessary research before it’s official. He really likes Memphis, as does the rest of our family. We had a really good visit to Memphis, and we are very impressed with Coach Pastner, the team, and the university. Memphis is a special place. We are planning to make a trip back to Memphis for a regular-season game to experience the atmosphere and spend more time with the coaches and players. We want to make sure he feels just as good about everything at Memphis as he did during our first trip there. We also want to visit a couple of other schools for Shaq to have something to compare to Memphis. If my son feels as strongly about Memphis after the season as he does now, then he will definitely be a Memphis Tiger. We appreciate everyone’s patience and support as we finish the recruiting process.”
FREE THROWS
St. Raymond’s F Daniel Dingle signed Monday with Temple, per his brother, Dana…La Jolla Prep had four players sign: Darnell Harris (Cleveland State), Jarion Henry (Oklahoma), Darrell Bowie (N. Illinois) & Strahinja Gavrilovic (USC)
(Photo courtesy AJC)
