Felipe Haase, a 6-foot-10 center from Miami (FL) Christian, committed to South Carolina after taking his official visit to the school last weekend. He will sign a Letter of Intent on Thursday.
A native of Chile, he also considered Pitt, Purdue and Missouri.
“I’m very excited to sign my Letter of Intent today with South Carolina,” he said. “It’s been a longtime dream of mine to play NCAA college basketball. I’m very fortunate to be in this position. I want to thank the University of Purdue, Pittsburgh, Missouri for all their efforts in recruiting me. I want to thank my mentor Art Alvarez, and my high school coach Juan Cardona. I want to also thank my home country of Chile for all the support you have provided me over the years.”
Haase is South Carolina’s third commit, following 6-7 small forward Ibrahim Doumbia and 7-foot center Jason Cudd.
“I’m so happy for Felipe,” Cardona said. “He has worked extremely hard for this opportunity. We feel he’s one of the best skilled man in the country. We expect big things from Felipe this year at Miami Christian.”
Alvarez has a longtime relationship with USC coach Frank Martin.
“This is one of the toughest decisions I have ever been around,” Alvarez said. “Our program have sent over 150 kids to Division 1 programs for over a decade plus. It came down to a pros and cons analysis on each program. While Felipe had great visits at the other schools, but he felt a special bond with Head Coach Frank Martin. He also felt he can come in and play right away as a freshman for the Gamecocks.”
South Carolina is also involved for guard David Beatty of Imhotep Institute (PA) and 6-10 Nick Claxton of Greenville (S.C).
