The news broke late Wednesday evening, ending all kinds of speculation and he said-she said exchanges that had been circulating around the American Athletic Conference when Memphis acknowledged that it has received a verbal commitment from point guard Keon Clergeot.
Clergeot said as much when he took to social media.
https://twitter.com/Keonhumble/status/740643303603994624
Okay. So, Mr. Clergeot thinks he would like to sink a few shots through the basketball net at the U-of-M. Any objections? You probably won’t hear many coming from FedExForum.
The Auburndale Senior High School point guard’s verbal is going to leave the rest of the AAC smarting and a little put out. If it doesn’t, it should.
Clergeot doesn’t usually do pleasantries on the court. He also doesn’t much take to having his shots blocked at the rim. That gives him an attitude most defenders probably don’t want to square with. He is an athletic, 6-foot-1 playmaker who averaged 26.5 points, eight rebounds and six assists as senior.
Clergeot’s sig of intent isn’t on paper just yet. But his verbal is certainly a statement basket for the Memphis basketball program and its recruiting efforts moving forward. He would give Memphis another option at point guard next season, untested at the D-1 college level though he may be.
It didn’t take Twitter very long to shower the point guard’s next level choice with its take.
power moves only 🙏🏼👍🏼
— justin (@fluvx) June 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/JuanitoTwist/status/740761703995035648
I guess I'll wait for @JohnMartin929 to respond to the signing of Keon Clergeot since he was preoccupied with bad golf by Gary & Chris.
— Salim Jabril (@SalimJabril) June 9, 2016
Ends up getting a commitment from his man @Keonhumble (again) after doing some nice work with the driver today. Good day for Tubby.
— L. Jason Smith (@JasonSmith929) June 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/C_Sanders3/status/740746707491774464
“I heard you get to play in the Memphis Grizzlies arena,” said Clergeot, per The Commercial Appeal. “I like that. And that it’s a basketball town. It’s really a beautiful town.”
Truly. I bet he likes that. A combination of Clergeot, returning sophomore point guard Jeremiah Martin and Coppin State graduate transfer Christian Kessee might be enough to hold down the point guard position this season. But, hold that though. I’m not sold yet.
Martin was solid playing in a reserve role last year. But he does remain something of a work in progress as a full-time floor leader.
Kessee would like to play point guard this season. Or, so he said. That may or may not be the case when Memphis opens its season up in November. But Kessee has been more of a scorer during his collegiate years than a distributor.
Adding Clergeot to the roster could also take care of the need for signing a point guard in the 2017 class. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Clergeot, a 3-star prospect and one of the leading available 2016 guard prospects, signed with Texas Tech late last November. He planned to play for Tubby Smith, now the head coach over there at Memphis. The talented guard had also been recruited hard by former Texas Tech assistant Joe Esposito, who is now listed on the Memphis athletic department’s payroll.
So, they kind of have an association. Funny how that worked.
Clergeot had offers coming from Bowling Green, Duquesne, Louisiana Tech, Stephen F. Austin, VCU, East Carolina, George Washington, Kansas State, Murray State, Louisville, Georgia Tech and Wichita State before he coolly responded to the heat of the recruiting game by giving his verbal to the U of M.
What’s up, Memphis? You just got your boy.
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