All-area player Cole Tucker from Whitwell and former Tyner player Andrew Ferrell are among the 2011 signees for the Tennessee Temple University men’s basketball program.
Crusaders coach Randy Lee also signed 6-foot-8 Kirian Keith from Grace Academy.
Leading the group is a sophomore point guard from Sacramento, Calif., who signed originally with Duquesne. That is Matt Garth, a 6-foot, 160-pounder who was academically ineligible at the Atlantic 10 school in Pittsburgh and played a year at Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts.
“It’s a change, a difference, a second chance,” Garth said of his decision to come to Temple.
“He’ll be a scoring point,” Lee said. “He’s diminutive but he’s quick and he does a great job getting separation with his bursts of speed and exceptional ball-handling. And he’s a little older and gives us some experience. He has the opportunity to be a special player for us.”
Lee also sees special possibilities in Tucker, who averaged 23.8 points and 18 rebounds a game as a Whitwell senior forward.
“Cole will play immediately and pay immediate dividends with his rebounding and ability to score, but what I’m really excited about is the ton of intensity he will bring,” Lee said. “His energy and intensity are nonstop all the time.”
The signings of Tucker and Whitwell point guard Blake Chance were announced in April.
Lee wanted to announce Ferrell’s signing in 2009, when he graduated from Tyner, but the 6-2 shooting guard wanted a shot at NCAA Division I. He went to East Tennessee State and walked on the basketball team but eventually quit playing.
“I’ve come back because I see bigger things in my future,” Ferrell said Friday.
“He is a young man we previously recruited, and he’s going to give us some added experience from practicing at ETSU,” Lee said. “Coming from Tyner he was part of a winning tradition. He’ll give us leadership and the ability to stretch the court with his shooting from the wings and the corners.”
Keith was in the area home-school athletic program before playing the last two seasons at Hamilton Heights.
“He really played only about a year and a half, so he had a lot of learning curve and still has a lot of room to develop,” Hamilton Heights headmaster Duke Stone said. “But he’s willing to learn and he’s got a great body and good hands, and he’s fairly athletic for his size. He needs to keep working on his skills, and I think Temple is a good place for him to do that.”
Said Lee: “I’m looking forward to working with Kirian. He’s green but I think he’s got tons of upside. I think he’s starting to get comfortable being a post and being big, and he can shoot the ball better than most people know.”