Symir Torrence will play for the Marquette Golden Eagles in 2019-2020 after reclassifying into the upcoming NCAA Basketball 2019 recruiting class.
The Daily NCAA Basketball Recruiting Notebook (June 4) will examine Symir Torrence’s decision to reclassify to the class of 2019 and join the Marquette Golden Eagles this upcoming campaign. The DRN will also look at three-star’s Colby Jones unofficial visit to Alabama, four-star’s Earl Timberlake’s upcoming visit to South Carolina as well as Kendric Davis’ transfer from TCU.
Torrence, a consensus top-50 2020 recruit, reversed course and signed with the Marquette Golden Eagles to play this upcoming season on Friday, May 31. The Syracuse native originally signed to be part of MU’s 2020 class but he earned enough credits this year at Vermont Academy to be eligible this season and the Eagles had some open roster spots with the Hauser brothers’ (Joey and Sam transfer. This year’s class is his original class, although he was prepared to spend another season at Vermont Academy had he failed to get enough credits.
The 6-foot-3 combo guard, who turned 18-years-old on Sunday, is athletic and possesses outstanding ball-handling skills with the ability to change pace. He is a pass-first guard who is capable of scoring on all three levels and a strong on-ball defender.
The four-star prospect was rated as the 44th best prospect in the 2020 class by 247Sports, 45th by 247Sports Composite, 46th by ESPN and 49th by Rivals. He averaged 19.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 5.8 assists while taking a school-record 37 charges last season.
Torrence will arrive in Milwaukee in June to start taking classes which will allow him to take part with summer workouts. He will also be able to participate with the team when they go on their three-game exhibition trip to Spain and France in August.
Where does Torrence fit in with this year’s club?
Marquette (24-10, 12-6) is coming off its best season under sixth-year head coach Steve Wojciechowski, reaching the NCAA tournament for the second time in three seasons. The Golden Eagles, who were chased from the NCAA tournament in the round of 64, have high expectations this upcoming season, although they are kind of tempered with the departure of the Hauser brothers.
Still, the Eagles will be very experienced and talented, particularly in the backcourt which will be lead by national player of the year candidate Markus Howard. Greg Elliott, Koby McEwen, Sacar Anim (8.3 ppg, 39.1 3-pt%) — who may play the three as well — and incoming freshman point guard Dexter Akanno will battle for playing time with Torrence. Elliott sat out last season with a thumb injury while McEwen was ineligible to play as a result of his transfer from Utah State.
Marquette has one more scholarship available for the upcoming season. It will be interesting to see if they use it. Center and small forward are two positions that could use more depth if Wojciechowski finds a player to his liking.
Colby Jones visits Alabama
Rising 2020 prospect Colby Jones was on an unofficial visit to Alabama today, according to Jake Weingarten of Stockkrisers. Jones, a three-star prospect and No.3 player in the state according to 247Sports, was in Auburn this weekend where he picked up an offer from the Tigers’ head coach Bruce Pearl. He now has 12 offers overall with five coming from power-7 schools — including Xavier, Clemson, and Georgia. AUB was the first school to offer the 6’4″ combo guard. Jones has also taken an official visit to Yale (April 17-19)
Jones is athletic and plays with a high-motor while also being very coachable. He can score on all three levels and has decent upper body strength which helps him finish through contact. However, the Birmingham (AL) native biggest offensive strength may be his mid-range game. Jones is also a solid defensive rebounder as well as an on-ball defender.
Jones, who helped Mountain Brook High School to its third straight state title this past season, is expected to garner plenty of interest from high-major schools in the future.
2020 prospect Earl Timberlake plans an upcoming visit to South Carolina
Four-star prospect Earl Timberlake is slated to begin an official visit to South Carolina on June 6, per Stockrisers’ Jake Weingarten. This will only be the second official visit that the 6’6″ wing has made, with the first being on Nov. 5 to Providence, although Alabama has been in to see him several times. He holds more than two dozen scholarship offers with Providence, Maryland, Seton Hall, and West Virginia along with the Crimson Tide as well as the Gamecocks reportedly being the most involved.
Timberlake possesses elite athleticism who excels above the rim. He is an outstanding shot blocker and rebounder on both ends of the court.
Timberlake is a consensus top-50 recruit in the class. The Hyattsville (MD.) native is ranked 37th in the nation by 247Sports Composite and 42nd by 247Sports. ESPN has him slated at No. 47 while Rivals pegged him at No. 39.
Kendric Davis enters transfer portal
In a surprising move, Kendric Davis has decided to leave TCU. It is unclear why he is transferring but the sophomore did write on his twitter post “Things don’t always go as we plan but God is in control,” while also thanking Frog Nation. But numbers could have been an issue as the Horned Frogs once had 15 players on scholarship, and that number is now at 14 — therefore TCU will need to get down to 13 before the end of the month.. Plus, coach Jaime Dixon brought in two grad transfer guards in former UT-Arlington guard Edric Davis and George Mason’s Jaire Grayer this offseason. Meaning that nine of the 14 players that are on scholarships are guards.
The 5’11” point guard had a solid season last year as the team’s sixth man, appearing in all 37 games which included two starts. He averaged 6.3 points and 2.0 assists while shooting just 40.9% from the field and 31.9% from beyond the arc last season. Davis, who scored in double-figures eight times, had his best game against Iowa State (Feb. 9) where he tallied 22 points on a season-best 7 of 10 shots from the field.
Davis is the fourth player to transfer from TCU, which has not finished above .500 in Big 12 play in any of Dixon’s three seasons, this year. Jaylen Fisher, Kaden Archie, and Yuat Alok are the other players that have transferred.
LSU, SMU, Arizona State, San Diego State, Villanova, Tennessee, and Texas A&M are believed to possible landing spots for Davis. He will have to sit out the upcoming season but will have three years of eligibility remaining.
We will have to see if Davis announces a finalist list. Stay tuned for updates.
More recruiting tidbits
- Consensus top-75 2021 point guard Daeshun Ruffin (Calloway, Miss) committed to Auburn on June 3. The diminutive 5’9″ lead guard erupted for 51 points against the NY Renaissance in an EYBL matchup earlier this spring. Ruffin averaged 25.8 points per game on 44.3 percent shooting and 41.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc during the EYBL season. He added 5.3 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game to those averages. The Calloway (Miss.), who is Auburn’s first commitment from the class of 2021, held five other offers — Alabama, Miss. State, Houston, Ole Miss, and Southern Miss.
- North Dakota freshman Jal Bijiek is leaving the program. The 6’7″ small forward averaged 1.9 points and 1.2 rebounds in less than six minutes of action in 17 appearances. He did make a respectable 44.4% of his shots from the field and 46.2% of his attempts from beyond the arc. The Des Moines (Iowa) product originally committed to Tulsa but chose to spend one year at a postgraduate school before signing with UND.
- Six-foot-9 power forward Zach Martini (2020) received an offer to play for Yale on June 3. Martini now holds nine offers — all of them from low-major programs — and eight of the schools are located on the East Coast with Cal Poly being the exception.
- 2020 three-star prospect Mason Hooks (Studio City, CA) committed to Princeton on June 3. He didn’t have any scholarship offers but had drawn interest from Georgetown, Harvard, Tulane, Rice, Yale, and Brown among others. The 6’9″ center, who is a solid two-way player, averaged 16.1 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks last season for Harvard-Westlake High School. Hooks is the Tigers first 2020 commit.
- Five-star 2021 combo guard Drew Askew continues to draw interest from major programs, receiving an offer from TCU on June 3. He now holds offers from Arizona, Florida, Texas, Oregon, USC, Louisville, San Diego St., and St. John’s.