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Tulsa lands fourth 2016 commitment

Frank Haith

Frank Haith

AP

With three recruits having already made their verbal pledges, Tulsa head coach Frank Haith and his staff are off to a solid start when it comes to accounting for some key departures in 2016. Wednesday the Golden Hurricane landed their fourth commitment in the Class of 2016, as 6-foot-9 power forward Martins Igbanu announced that he’ll be joining the American Athletic Conference program.

Igbanu attends Covenant Christian Ministries Academy in Georgia, and he played his grassroots basketball for the Southern Stampede program. In Nike EYBL play this spring Igbanu averaged 10.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest, shooting nearly 59 percent from the field.

Igbanu joins guards Lawson Korita, Corey Henderson and Jabar Ray in Tulsa’s 2016 recruiting class to date, with Henderson and Ray being junior college products.

While Tulsa’s biggest losses after the 2015-16 season from a production standpoint will come on the perimeter (James Woodard, Shaquille Harrison and Rashad Ray), they also have some front court departures to account for. Rashad Smith, who was third on the team in scoring as a junior, will also be a senior this upcoming season and the same can be said for fellow front court contributors D’Andre Wright and Brandon Swannegan.

Adding Igbanu will help Tulsa as they look to account for those eventual losses. Of the front court players on the roster with eligibility remaining beyond 2015-16 current junior T.K. Edogi was the most productive last season (1.4 ppg), with Pat Birt joining the team this season and Rutgers transfer Junior Etou becoming eligible after he sits out the upcoming season.