The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball coach Anthony Grant announced the signing of four recruits to National Letters of Intent for the 2011-2012 season. The class includes Levi Randolph, Nick Jacobs, Rodney Cooper and Moussa Gueye.
The signing class is ranked No. 16 by Rivals.com and ESPN.com and third in the Southeastern Conference by Scout.com. The class includes three players ranked in the Rivals.com top-150 and another player who is regarded as one of the top junior college centers in the nation.
Randolph, a 6-foot-6-inch shooting guard from Madison, Ala., is ranked as a four-star recruit by both ESPN.com and Rivals.com and earned a five-star ranking from Scout.com. As a junior, he led Bob Jones High School to the Alabama 6A state championship and was the state tournament MVP.
“[Randolph] brings a lot of versatility to our back court,” Grant said. “He’s got the size and skill level that we need. I’m certainly very excited about adding him to our team. He received great coaching and has a great family. Levi’s a big addition to us because not only of his talent, but being from the state as well.”
Cooper, a 6-foot-5-inch guard from Phenix City, Ala., is a consensus three-star recruit according to the major recruiting organizations. He averaged 20.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game as a junior at Russell County High School.
“Rodney is also from the state and brings a lot of versatility to our perimeter,” Grant said. “Being 6-5, he’s a guy that can shoot the basketball and can really excel in our style of play. Rodney is another quality young man with a bright future ahead of him.”
The Tide also added two frontcourt players, Jacobs and Gueye, to make the class complete. Jacobs, a 6-foot-9-inch, 250-pound forward from Atlanta, is a four-star recruit according to ESPN.com and Rivals.com. He averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds per game as a junior at South Atlanta High School.
“He brings a good deal of size and physicality to our front court and is a much needed help on the interior for us,” Grant said. “Jacobs has established himself as a person who’s able to score around the basket. As he continues to develop, he’ll be a guy at the power forward spot for us that brings the physicality and interior scoring that we need.”
Gueye, a 7-foot, 270-pound center, is a junior college player at Lake Land College in Matoon, Ill. Gueye is a native of Senegal and is considered as one of the top junior college centers in the nation and rated a four-star prospect by Rivals.com.
“When you look at a guy of his size, he’ll bring a much needed addition to our front court,” Grant said. “He’s also a guy with great skill for a man of his size. He has great passing ability and should be able to score for us in the front court.”
Despite being credited with signing the class, Grant did not want all of the spotlight to be on himself. He thanks his entire staff for working hard and getting this class signed.
“Our assistant coaches did a tremendous job in terms of recruiting.” Grant said. “I want to commend our guys. With the class that we signed, it was a total team effort on behalf of our assistant coaches. This is a very good class for us and I’m proud of all the efforts everyone put in assisting with these signings.”
