USF men’s hoops lands two commitments for 2013

Posted Dec 7, 2011 by Adam Adkins

Updated Dec 7, 2011 at 06:55 PM

USF men’s basketball coach Stan Heath has picked up his first two commitments for the 2013 recruiting class, securing verbal pledges from center John Egbunu and point guard Drew Davis, teammates with the AAU club Team Georgia Elite.

Team Georgia Elite coach Linzy Davis confirmed the commitments Wednesday. Linzy Davis is the father of Drew Davis, and Egbunu, who is from Bauchi, Nigeria, resides with the family.

Egbunu is an intriguing 7-foot, 240-pound prospect. Despite playing basketball only a few years, he seems to be adjusting to the game very quickly. Clemson, Nebraska, Georgia Tech and Memphis were among the other programs recruiting him.

“I’ve never had a kid that has grown so fast in a short period of time in terms of their basketball development,” said Davis, who has coached some of the country’s most recognizable names during annual stints with the USA Elite National Team in the Nike Douai Junior World Championships, including current NBA stars Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony.

“He would be the best big man, at this stage, that I’ve coached, and that would include the Lopez twins (former Stanford standouts Brook and Robin), coaching them in USA basketball, Shelden Williams, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. This kid is really off the charts in terms of his development, and I really conisder him the most dominating big man in Georgia since Dwight Howard. We all call him baby Dwight Howard.”

Drew Davis (6-foot, 165 pounds), who was also being recruited by Memphis, College of Charleston and Georgia Tech, has garnered plenty of international experience in his young career, and in the summer of 2010 averaged 14 points per game while helping Team USA win the 17-under championship and place fourth in the 19-under championship at the FIBA Americas Tournament in Argentina.

“I would say his greatest attributes would be passing, ball-handling and 3-point shooting,” Linzy Davis said. “He’s a good defender as well.”

Both players began the current high school season playing at Eagle’s Landing in McDonough, Ga., and while they still attend school there they now play for a nearby club team, Georgia Elite Christian, which competes on a national prep circuit.

“The idea behind that was they wanted to be challenged and they wanted to play better competition,” Davis said. “They needed the challenge in order to be able to play and contribute when they come in as freshmen.”