Houston’s moving up in the world. And I’m not talking about conference realignment rumors.
The Cougars secured two of their biggest basketball commitments in years Sunday night, landing a pair of consensus Top 100 recruits in Danuel House and Danrad “Chicken” Knowles, according to various reports. Retaining two in-state talents marks a significant moment for second-year coach James Dickey, who wasn’t an incredibly popular choice when he replaced Tom Penders in 2010.
“I think it’s a huge impact as far letting the guys and people in the city of Houston know that Houston is home and it’s a positive situation,” Texas Pro coach Marland Lowe told Evan Daniels of Rivals.com. “Everybody talks about the days of Phi Slamma Jamma and everybody remembers those days. The only thing that has changed since then is the time, coverage and that for whatever reason some of the coaches that came in didn’t want to focus on the local talent and went after junior college or out of state kids.”
House, a 6-6 wing, is the more touted player of the two. Rivals rates him as a 5-star talent with incredible athleticism and aggressiveness. Knowles, a 6-10 forward, isn’t as highly rated, but is incredibly valuable as a defender because he moves well and can guard three positions.
Related stories:
- Good luck to NCAA monitoring Facebook, Twitter recruiting
- Move over big men, Muhammad soars to top spot
- NCAA may finally allow unlimited texts to prospects
You also can follow me on Twitter @MikeMillerNBC.