Rush The Court

Wednesday marked the beginning of the early signing period in college basketball, and the Big 12 is off to a rather slow start. Midway through the day, Eric Bossi, a national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com, tweeted, “As of this moment, the Big 12 is getting lapped by the field.” So far, the conference has only managed to sign five top 100 recruits, according to Rivals, and by way of a comparison, former conference member Texas A&M — certainly no traditional basketball power by any stretch — has already signed four top 100 players. Here’s a quick look at each of the top 100 players that signed with the Big 12 yesterday.

• Jawun Evans (Oklahoma State) – Evans is the highest ranked player to commit to the Big 12 from the Class of 2015. He’s been described by ESPN‘s Fran Fraschilla as a “classic college point guard.” And according to Jerry Meyer of 247Sports, Evans is “lightning quick with the basketball, excels at penetrating defenses and has a great balance to his decision making.” It would seem likely that Evans will compete for a starting spot in Stillwater as soon as he steps on campus.
• Kerwin Roach Jr. (Texas) – Roach committed to the Longhorns in late October and officially signed with Texas on Wednesday. He was attracted to Texas because of their development of elite guards, including D.J. Augustin and T.J. Ford. Roach, the Texas 5A state record holder in the triple jump, will offer the Longhorns incredible athleticism on the perimeter. Head coach Rick Barnes praised his basketball IQ, scoring ability and work ethic in announcing the signing.

• Eric Davis (Texas) – Davis was the second top 100 guard to sign with Texas during the early signing period. Meyer called the pickup a “recruiting coup” because Davis hails from the heart of Big Ten country. ESPN has described him as a score-first point guard and Rick Barnes emphasized his scoring talent and play-making ability in a press release.
• Esa Ahmad (West Virginia) – Ahmad is a 6’7″, 210-pound forward from Cleveland, Ohio. Head coach Bob Huggins was excited by the signing, saying, “I do not know if we could have signed a better player to fill our needs.” Huggins complimented Ahmad on his ability to create scoring opportunities for both himself and his teammates. He has been described by multiple recruiting analysts as a fantastic rebounder who gets great position on the boards.
• King McClure (Baylor) – McClure, along with three other players, signed with Scott Drew and the Bears on Wednesday. He’s known as a good finisher at the rim who sometimes settles for jump shots and needs to improve his 3-point shooting. Drew said in an announcement that McClure brings versatility to Waco and a body (6’3″, 205 pounds) that can compete in the conference right away.

With only 21 players remaining on the Rivals Top 150 list, the Big 12 has a substantial amount of catching up to do. Texas leads the way so far with two top 100 recruits and Oklahoma State has signed the only five-star player in Jawun Evans. Kansas remains a potential destination for a number of top-tier players; Iowa State is continuing its recruitment of Cheick Diallo; and Oklahoma State remains in play for Diamond Stone. However, if the Big 12 whiffs on those, the conference may be in rough shape a couple of seasons from now.