Jabari Brown

The 6-foot-5 California shooting guard officially pledged to the No. 9 Tigers (11-0) Monday. As SNY.tv first reported earlier Monday, Georgia Tech pulled out of of the Brown sweepstakes.

“Jabari Brown to Mizzou as of today,” David Brown, Jabari’s father, told SNY.tv by text. “This has been a tough, tough time for him. He went to Oregon with every intention of making it work. He’s grateful for the opportunity they gave him. And he regrets that it didn’t work.”

With the departure of star Marcus Denmon, head coach Frank Haith will look to Brown to step into that shooting guard role next season when the Tigers move to the SEC.

The Tigers have a strong five-man class coming in, led by Huntington (W.V.) Prep shooting guard Negus Webster-Chan and power forward Stefan Jankovic.

The Tigers already have a dangerous two-headed point guard monster of Phil Pressey and Mike Dixon, and now they can add a catch-and-shoot guy in Brown, assuming he can learn to play the team concept. He is known for wanting to hoist a fair number of shots.

Brown will join transfers Keion Bell, a guard who averaged 16.4 points at Pepperdine, and former Auburn guard Earnest Ross, who averaged 13.1 points last year.

The staff feels Bell can be an upgrade from Matt Pressey, who graduates, and Ross can be an improvement over Kim English.

The Tigers will also get 6-8 forward Lawrence Bowers back from an ACL injury.

If Haith can get Brown and the other new guys to buy into the team concept, the Tigers could be really good for years to come.

Photo: US Presswire

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NEW YORK

Nearly a quarter century later, the No. 10 Tigers made an emphatic statement on the national stage by handling Villanova, 81-71, in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.

“The Missouri brand was on the national scene tonight,” said Tigers coach Frank Haith, a Queens native. “The lights are bright, very bright here in New York. We had an opportunity to play on national TV against a really good team.”

This is just the latest impressive statement for unbeaten Mizzou (8-0), which beat Notre Dame by 29 points and then-No. 20 Cal by 39.

With Missouri moving to the SEC from the Big 12 next year, Haith wants the Tigers to have a footprint in the South and the East.

He was out recruiting in the New York area Monday and stopped in at St. Benedict’s Prep to see 2013 point guard Tyler Ennis.

“They love Tyler,” St. Ben’s coach Mark Taylor told SNY.tv.

Missouri is not a big team, but their four-guard offense sure must look appealing to guards like Ennis after Tuesday’s performance.

Point guards Phil Pressey and Michael Dixon dominated the flow of the game, despite combining to shoot just 3 for 21 from the field.

They combined for 20 assists and just 4 turnovers.

“Phil Pressey is a treat,” Haith said of the sophomore who had 8 points, 12 assists and 3 turnovers. “He’s a special player. A true point guard like that is hard to find. He’s very special. He was outstanding tonight.”

Meantime, senior guard Marcus Denmon, a Big 12 Player of the Year candidate, looked awesome in putting up 28 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Senior forward Ricardo Ratliffe, Mizzou’s lone starting forward, was a force in the paint with 17 points and 11 boards.

“They have so many answers,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “They’re so disciplined.

“Their guards are really good, man.”

Ratliffe credited Pressey for being able to find his teammates wherever they are.

“He’s got eyes, not only on the back of his head, but on the side of his head and everywhere else,” he said. “So as soon as he drives, I just get my hands ready.”

Wright knows a few things about being successful with a four-guard offense, and thinks Mizzou has the ingredients to be dangerous going forward.

“They’ve got the ingredients to play four guards and be really dynamic,” Wright said.

After two decades away from the New York spotlight, the Tigers put on a show Tuesday. And Haith hopes that helps them build a strong footprint here in coming years.

“There’s no question,” he said. “When we got the job, this was a game that I thought would really help us, really help our program.”

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“I think so,” he said.

In 6-foot-9 power forward Stefan Jankovic and 6-6 small forward Negus Webster-Chan, Huntington has two players who will sign with Missouri Thursday during an event at the school.

That same day, Elijah Macon, Huntington’s 6-9 power forward, will sign with West Virginia.

That makes Fulford, whose team is absolutely loaded this year, uniquely positioned to talk about the state of college realignment.

Missouri is officially leaving the Big 12 for the SEC for the 2012-13 basketball season, although its start date could be impacted by when West Virginia leaves the Big East for the Big 12.

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto has said he intends to hold West Virginia — as well as Syracuse and Pittsburgh (ACC) — to the league-mandated 27-month exit timeline.  The Big East and West Virginia are suing one another over the matter.

Missouri chancellor Brady Deaton said he doesn’t expect the legal dispute between West Virginia and the Big East to impact Missouri’s plans for a quick exit, referring to “assurances” that the Big 12 won’t try to block an imminent Missouri move.

Fulford believes that both Jankovic (pictured) and Webster-Chan will acclimate well to life in the SEC East, where Missouri will join Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

“I think the style of play, it’s a very similar conference [to the Big 12],” he said. “It’s an up-and-down athletic league, and I think it fits both of them pretty well, so I think either way it’s a good fit for them.”

As for West Virginia, Fulford believes the school had to make the move to the Big 12 for football.

“Being from here, obviously they needed to make a move for football and the Big 12 is going to be a better conference for West Virginia from a football standpoint,” Fulford said. “I think they needed to take a chance to see where the basketball would take them.”

So far it’s taken them to a complicated legal dispute involving two lawsuits.

But Fulford said Macon was not as concerned with conference he will play in as much as coach Bob Huggins’ overall style of play.

“He didn’t really care regardless of what conference they were going in,” he said. “He picked West Virginia for their style of play and I think it fits him very well.”

Fulford expects Huggins to bring a more “grind-it-out, extremely physical on defense” style of play that will be unique in the Big 12.

“I think most of the Big 12 teams are more offensive skill related, so it will be kind of a contrasting style,” he said.

PAYNE TO SIGN LATE

Evan Payne, a 6-1 combo guard from Akron, Ohio who plays at Huntington Prep, will sign late, Fulford said.

“He’s a kid that’s starting to draw high-major interest,” he said.

USC, Missouri and DePaul are among the leaders for Payne, who will take an official to USC the weekend of Nov. 18.

Akron, Miami (Ohio) and Kent State were previously recruiting him.

“He’s just a pure scorer,” Fulford said. “He’s freakishly athletic. He’s a 6-1 kid with a well over a 40-inch vertical. He plays as high as above the rim as any 6-1 kid I’ve ever seen.

“It’s freakish how high he jumps.”

See this video of Payne and teammate Andrew Wiggins for proof.

(The AP contributed)

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Aaron Scales,

Haith faces allegations of impropriety stemming to his time at Miami.

“Actually, he’s been thinking about it for the last few weeks. It’s just a tough situation,” John Jordan, Scales’s high school coach, told the Columbia Daily Tribune. “He really likes Coach Haith. He’d love to play for him, but with these allegations pending, it’s a situation where we just can’t gamble on this kind of situation.”

Jordan declined to specify the schools interested in Scales, averaging 24 points and 11 rebounds in his postgrad year, but said SEC and ACC programs were involved.

“I’d rather not say the schools because the schools were very careful about making sure he officially decommitted first,” Jordan said. “That’s why we went to the problem of formally decommitting because we didn’t want it to look like he was stabbing Coach Haith in the back or anything like that.”

With the addition of Huntington (West Va.) Prep forward Stefan Jankovic and guard Domonique Bull last week, Mizzou currently has eight commits for 2012.

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Stefan Jankovic, a 6-foot-11 power forward from Huntington (West Va.) Prep, verbally pledged to the Tigers, as did Domonique Bull, a a 6-4 shooting guard from the Tilton School (N.H.).

“Been a long process, but its finally over. I will be taking my talents to ……….Missouri !” tweeted Jankovic, who also considered Florida State.

“He’s grown, he’s 6-11 now,” Huntington coach Rob Fulford said. “He’s extremely skilled. I wouldn’t say he’s a prototypical European kid since he’s from Canada, but he can shoot. He’s a matchup nightmare.

“Once he gets healthy and gets more aggressive on both ends of the floor, he’s oozing with talent.”

Bull also had interest from Miami and Providence.

“He is a tremendous competitor on both ends of the floor,” Tilton coach Marcus O’Neil said by text. “He is hard to stop when he puts it on the floor. He finishes well and is good as a passer. He rebounds well for a guard.”

The Tigers now have an eight-man recruiting class that also includes 6-6 small forward Negus Webster-Chan, Jankovic’s Huntington Prep teammate.

All of the players will likely wind up playing in the SEC instead of the Big 12, as Missouri will become the 14th team in the SEC in 2012.

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The 6-foot-7 small forward from Scarborough, Canada and Huntington (W.V.)  Prep committed to Mizzou coach Frank Haith over Iowa. He is Mizzou’s fifth commit for the Class of 2012.

“He’s an extremely versatile guard,” Huntington Prep coach Rob Fulford told PowerMizzou.com “He can play the one through the four in a four-guard set. He can have games where he can have 20 plus, but he’s more of an eight point, eight rebound, six assist, three or four steals. He can do everything. He’s a good defender too.

Former Louisville assistant Tim Fuller, who recruited Webster-Chan to the Cardinals, is now an assistant at Missouri.

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By ALEX KLINE

Ishmail Wainright, a 6-foot-5 small forward in the Class of 2013 from Missouri and consensus top-50 player, has officially re-opened his recruitment.

Late Thursday night, he made a life changing call to new Mizzou coach Frank Haith and staff to inform them of his decision.

“I talked to my dad, mom, coach and uncle about the situation,” he said. “It’s too early to make a decision. I want to wait and go visit more schools. There could be a better situation out there.”

Wainright committed on May 8 after taking an unofficial visit to Missouri and building a relationship with the new Missouri staff. Haith, the former Miami (FL) coach, and his staff made a big impression on Wainright, who chose the Tigers based off of “the great relationship with (the new staff).”

Wainright will still consider Missouri and says they are “at the top of my list.” Along with the Tigers, Wainright will go back to the list of schools who were recruiting him earlier.

That list includes “West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Texas, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, St. John’s, UCLA, Arkansas, Baylor, UMKC, Memphis, Kentucky and a few more.”

ASHLEY TO FINDLAY PREP

Brandon Ashley, a 2012 6-foot-8 combo forward from Bishop O’Dowd in North California, has decided to transfer to a national power.

Ashley will spend his senior season at Findlay Prep in Nevada, according to Pilots assistant coach Todd Simon.

“He’s a great person,” Findlay coach Michael Peck told MaxPreps.com. “He comes from a great family, his mother has done a fantastic job raising him. What makes him so special as a player is how skilled and talented his is. He can handle the ball, is good with either hand, he plays hard. At the end of the day, he’s just a winner.”

Ashley has averaged around 15 points and 10 rebounds for his three-year career at Bishop O’Dowd. He is currently being recruited by a majority of the Pac-12, as well as Kentucky, UConn, Texas, Ohio State, Wake Forest and others.

He will join a team full of top players including guards Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Nigel Williams-Goss, along with forwards Anthony Bennett, Winston Sheppard and Landen Lucas.

RECRUITING RUNDOWN

**Demarquise Johnson, a 6-5 wing from Westwind Prep, enjoyed his recent unofficial to Washington.

He said he liked “the coaches, the place is great. Their offense was meant for a guard and they have NBA players so they get players in the league.”

He will visit UNLV this weekend.

“That will probably be the last till July,” he said.

**Kale Abrahamson, a 2012 wing from Iowa, picked up two high-major offers Thursday from Boston College and Seton Hall.

**Jordan Forehand, a 2014 guard from St. Anthony in New Jersey, is out in California for a camp. While there, the current New Jersey Playaz guard for their U15 team, and former Playaz guard, Jio Fontan, met up on the USC campus. The current Trojan guard showed Forehand around and introduced him to the campus.

**Memphis officially offered two 2013 players on Wednesday night as Isaiah Lewis and Brannen Greene received offers. The New York guard, Lewis, and Georgia forward, Greene, were both excited about it and are good friends. They may talk about the idea of potential package deal to a destination as time draws closer.

**Former Louisville star Purvis Ellison is the new head coach at Burlington (N.J.) Life Center.

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Duke, N.C. State and Missouri.

“Those are my three now,” Purvis told Jody Demling of the Louisville-Courier Journal.

Purvis, who decommitted from Louisville, told Demling he “probably won’t” add any other schools and that Kentucky and Louisville are “no longer on my list.”

“After they got Kevin Ware, me and my family decided it was best that I take [Louisville] off my list,” he told Demling. “[Kentucky] got Ryan Harrow, so I felt like it was best to take them off of my list as well. That’s just the way things go.”

“I am really taking it slow this time,” he added. “I am working through my relationships.”

The 6-foot-2 Purvis is the No. 1 shooting guard in the Class of 2012 and plays at Raleigh (N.C.) Upper Room Christian, so Duke and N.C. State are local for him.

Missouri is in  the mix because former Louisville assistant Tim Fuller — with whom Purvis has a strong relationship — is now on Frank Haith’s staff.

“Tim is a great guy, but I have to do what’s best for my future and my family,” Purvis said last week.

He told Demling he will wait to see all three programs on his list compete this year before announcing.

“They realize I am trying to build a relationship with all of them,” Purvis said. “So it’s all going really good. At the end of the day, I have to do what’s best for me.

“I want to see them all play this year. I may commit on my birthday [Feb. 14].”

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Rodney Purvis

“It was great, had a great time,” Purvis said Wednesday by text. “The players are great people and it’s a great atmosphere. The people and the coaches are very good people.”

The 6-foot-3 Purvis, the No. 1 shooting guard in the Class of 2012 out of Raleigh (N.C.) Upper Room Christian, maintains a close relationship with Tim Fuller, an assistant to new Mizzou coach Frank Haith.

Fuller was a major reason why Purvis initially committed to Louisville, only to decommit after Fuller departed.

“Tim is a great guy, but I have to do what’s best for my future and my family,” Purvis said.

Louisville, Duke, N.C. State, Kentucky and Missouri all remain options for Purvis, but he has no other visits planned right now.

“No, sir,” he said.

He has a busy summer ahead with stops at the Deron Williams and LeBron James Skills Academies, the Peach Jam and the Nike Super Showcase.

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Haith, 45, replaces Mike Anderson, who departed last month to take the Arkansas job.

As of late Sunday night, Haith had not informed his staff of his decision to move to the Big 12 from the ACC.

Haith went 129-101 in seven seasons at Miami, 43-69 in the ACC.

A Queens, N.Y. native, Haith is a former Big 12 assistant under Rick Barnes at Texas.

One name likely to surface as a potential replacement at Miami is Kansas State coach Frank Martin.

The 44-year old Martin is a Miami native who earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Florida International in 1993.

PETERS DECOMMITS FROM OU

By ALEX KLINE

When Oklahoma decided to part ways with head coach Jeff Capel, a number of people were surprised, including the recruits.

Last week, Lon Kruger left the UNLV Rebels to take the vacant spot in Norman.

On Sunday night, 2012 Oklahoma commit Richard Peters decided it was time to part ways. At first, Peters was optimistic about the addition of Kruger, but soon realized it wasn’t the right fit.

“I’m just letting you know I’m decommitting from OU and re-opening my recruitment,” Peters said in an email. ”It was a hard decision but this is what’s best for me. I’ll still be keeping tabs on OU.”

A 6-foot-10 center out of Westwind Prep in Arizona, Peters is highly touted for being a big inside presence. A native of Canada, he is currently back home preparing for the AAU season with Team Takeover Canada.

Team Takeover has their first tournament this weekend at Boo Williams in Virginia and Peters’ recruitment is sure to be a hot topic. “I want to go into AAU season a free man and start to rack in new offers and interest.”

The big man had offers from UConn, Louisville, Miami, Florida State and Georgia before choosing the Sooners. He also has one school who stands out the most to him.

“I have no true favorites at the moment but Washington is high on the list,” he stated. ”As for now, my favorite is still going to be Oklahoma. I just wanted to open up my recruitment because of the coaching change and not close the door on other options. I just got off the phone with the new assistant, Ben Betts, minutes ago and the love is strong.”

Peters says his tie to Washington is due to a relationship build with assistant coach Raphael Chillious. The two have known each other since the Westwind product was 16-years old and playing in the Jordan Brand Classic International game. Chillious was on the coaching staff for his team.

While the situation may not seem like the best at the moment, Peters seems optimistic about his future.

“It is what it is,” he said. ”Things take a bad turn sometimes.”

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