The 2012-13 Memphis Ridgeway High School basketball team easily could have claimed it was the best in Tennessee, regardless of classification. But the Roadrunners could not prove it because the TSSAA disqualified them from the postseason for using an ineligible player.
The backcourt for that team? Johnathan Burroughs-Cook and Greg Pryor.
They'll be reunited very soon.
Burroughs-Cook committed to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Friday and will have two years of eligibility remaining, starting this fall. He's the third player to commit to new head coach Matt McCall in the last week, joining incoming freshman guard Peyton Woods and junior college forward Traevis Graham, who will be a sophomore next year.
The 6-foot-1 Burroughs-Cook played in 24 games with six starts as a true freshman at the College of Charleston. He then transferred to Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis, where he averaged 13.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.
He plans to visit UTC on Monday and will sign while on campus. His addition will provide the team with a second scholarship point guard on the roster, to go along with Pryor.
"This is a very good opportunity. I've been following UTC over the past couple of years," Burroughs-Cook said Friday. "I talked with Greg about Coach McCall, and he said he was a really good guy. This feels like the right situation for me."
Burroughs-Cook said he has a "real good" bond with Pryor. He also spoke of their last high school season, when Ridgeway defeated eventual Class AAA state champion Southwind two out of three times.
"I'll take it to my grave that we were the best team in the state," he said.
"I plan on doing big things at UTC. The SoCon championship, the NCAA tournament, all of it," he added. "I want to help take our team to the next level."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.