It has all finally come to an end for him. After a long recruiting process - among the longest ever for a student-athlete in Arizona, 6-foot-8, 215-pound prep forward prospect TK Edogi is now officially off the recruiting board. Edogi gave a verbal commitment on Monday afternoon to a rising college program - one that will soon compete in the Big East Conference.
After taking an official recruiting visit this weekend to the campus of the University of Tulsa, Edogi decided to end his college recruitment and give a verbal pledge to head coach Danny Manning and his basketball staff. Manning and his staff extended an offer to Edogi while on the recruiting visit this weekend.
Tulsa will be entering competition in the new Big East Conference in July of 2014 after the Big East Board of Directors, in a unanimous vote, admitted Tulsa to full membership. The membership will begin July 1, 2014, in the soon-to-be-renamed and rebranded Conference.
Recently, Edogi had taken several other official recruiting visits to Niagara University, Wright State and Iona College in New York. Both Niagara and Wright State had offered scholarships to him, while Iona had not made an official offer.
Many other schools were looking to get involved very late in the process, as programs waited to see who else was recruiting Edogi, but Tulsa assistant coach Brett Ballard was persistent and got it done for the Tulsa staff. Ballard was instrumental in the recruitment of Edogi.
Edogi’s club coaches, Kenny Mullins and Gino Crump, with the Arizona Magic Elite, were behind Edogi's college recruitment all along and were responsible for aiding in this young man's life, as they cut tapes, made countless phone calls to college coaches and helped Edogi with his academics to ensure that this young man got it done - and for two full years. Their persistence and care for Edogi as a young man will now lead to this young man getting a chance to further his playing career at a high level college program.
Edogi was one of the top emerging prospects in the West this spring, after strong performances in several West Coast exposure events. After flying well below the recruiting radar for some time, the ultra-athletic power forward prospect saw his college recruitment begin to take off. A post-grad prospect at Westwind Prep Academy, Edogi developed a great deal over the past year while playing against local junior college competition at Westwind, and under the leadership and direction of head coach Gabe Stephens. Edogi had numerous games this season against junior college opposition, where he competed at a high level and put up strong individual statistics – helping the Westwind post-grad program to their best season since the school’s origination.
As a senior post at Valley Vista HS during the 2011-2012 high school basketball season, Edogi was among the most talented athletic talents in the class. While seeing double-teams and very rarely seeing the basketball, Edogi’s high motor and explosive athleticism allowed for him to make plays and still be very productive. As a result, Edogi had a strong high school season for himself and began to garner serious recruiting attention after the season came to an end.
Edogi received scholarship offers from such schools as Hartford University and Rider University, while also receiving strong interest from such schools as Cal-State Fullerton, Prairie View A&M, UC-Riverside and Sacramento State while in high school.
Edogi is already a full academic qualifier and has cleared the NCAA Clearinghouse. He will be eligible to compete this fall.
Arizona Hoop Review Scouting Report: Edogi is a high-wire, high-energy athletic talent that competes hard and attacks the rim with vigor. He has explosive athleticism for his size and plays well above the rim – an excellent finisher. One of the best dunkers in Arizona’s 2012 class. Also a good rebounder on both ends of the floor, Edogi rebounds the basketball at it’s apex in the air and rebounds outside of his area very well. He has solid low post moves and solid footwork, with a nice jump hook. He does not mind physical contact and gets to the free-throw line quite often. He is more of a mid-range shooter at this point in his young career, as he likes to score around the basket. He will need to improve his range on his shot and become more consistent from behind the arc at the next level, but can be very effective, depending on the level he lands at collegiately. He runs the floor exceptionally well and with great energy – creating easy scoring opportunities for himself on the offensive end of the floor. He is a solid defender overall, and has much more success as a low post defender. Needs to continue to focus on this area of his game to maximize his full potential, but he definitely has the lateral quickness and the athleticism to do so. A very good looking sleeper prospect for any mid-major division-I program.
