Wednesday was the first official day of this year's NCAA Early Signing Period, which will run from November 8 - 15th. While there are numerous committed prospects in Arizona's 2024 Class that will officially sign their respective National Letters of Intent during this time period, often times, there are new commitments and signings that take place as well. Liberty High School's 6-foot-8 senior forward Ring Nyeri has done just that, as Nyeri has decided to sign an NLOI with the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) and Head Coach Marvin Menzies.
Menzies and his staff have done an amazing job recruiting the state of Arizona - landing several Arizona prospects in the 2023 Class, and then now landing another for the 2024 Class in Nyeri. Nyeri is the second Arizona prospect to commit to UMKC for the 2024 class, also joining PHH Prep's 6-foot-10 senior post Blake Ammons. UMKC currently has (3) different top-rated Arizona prospects on their roster this season - Jamar Brown (Phoenix College), Cameron Faas (Scottsdale JC) and Jayson Petty (PHH Prep). You can now include Ring Nyeri, who decided to pull the trigger during the early signing period. It was unclear as to when Nyeri would make his college decision, although it seemed more likely that he would wait late. I agree with this decision by Nyeri, as waiting is no longer the best option, since scholarship opportunities are so hard to come by due to the consistent growth of the NCAA Transfer Portal. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
While Nyeri is one of my favorite overall prospects in Arizona's 2024 Class, his college recruitment was very slow. Nyeri only received one other D-I offer to his credit from Portland State, before committing to UMKC. Nyeri was selected and participated in the Pangos All-American Camp this past summer, and overall, had an excellent spring and summer for himself, but never really saw his college recruitment pick up, which was almost alarming. Regardless of how hard he was or wasn't recruited, he found the right fit for his talent, and he has a bright future ahead of him.
Other top-rated 2024 prospects expected to sign during the early NCAA Signing Period include AZ Compass Prep's Del Jones (Clemson University), Sammy Yeaney (Arizona State), Ethan Lathan (Old Dominion), Chris Cox (Utah State), Dream City Christian's Jamari Phillips (University of Arizona), Emmanuel Stephen (University of Arizona) and Jovan Milicevic (New Mexico), Canyon International Academy's Amier Ali (Arizona State), Inspire Prep Academy's Dilen Miller (Georgia State) and PHH Prep's Jeremiah Johnson (Oklahoma State), Carmelo Adkins (West Virginia), Ketraleus Aldridge (Arizona State), Caelum Harris (Nevada), Blake Ammons (UMKC), Cooper Campbell (Troy University), Hillcrest Prep's Jason Asemota (Baylor), St. Mary's High School's Styles Phipps (Grand Canyon), Notre Dame Prep's Anthony Batson Jr. (Rice), Cactus High School's Bradey Henige (Cal Baptist) and Sunnyslope's Jai Anthoni Bearden (Ball State).
