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Austin Nichols commits to Memphis

Josh Pastner

Memphis head coach Josh Pastner is joined by the team mascot after beating Marshall 83-57 in an NCAA college basketball game in the championship of the Conference USA tournament on Saturday, March 10, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

AP

Memphis just keeps adding to their 2013 class.

With two top 25 recruits (Nick King and Kuran Iverson) and two more top 100 recruits (Rashawn Powell and Markel Crawford) already committed to the Tigers, Memphis head coach Josh Pastner was simply flexing his recruiting muscles on Monday afternoon when Austin Nichols called him and pledged to the Tigers.

Nichols, a 6-foot-8 Memphis native that is ranked as the No. 12 recruit in the country according to ESPN, as long considered a heavy Tennessee lean, but things changed over the last month. According to his father, it was the last week that eventually changed Austin’s mind.

“We gave him the week off [from calls and visits] and then had a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting yesterday,” Mark Nichols told CBSSports.com. “We put together a 58-page report on all the schools and decided Memphis was the best place.”

Pastner has taken plenty of heat for his coaching ability the last two seasons, but there is no questioning his recruiting. This is the fourth consecutive powerhouse class for Pastner, two of which have yet to play an actual game for the Tigers. The future is bright in Memphis.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.