Western Kentucky is going to be the best mid-major in the country in 2017-18.
At the very least they’re going to be close to it.
On Tuesday, the Hilltoppers landed a commitment from Buffalo transfer Lamonte Bearden, a former four-star recruit that averaged 13.7 points and 4.2 assists as a sophomore with the Bulls. It was the second straight season that he was the point guard for a team that reached the NCAA tournament out of the MAC.
CBSSports.com was the first to report the news.
Bearden will get eligible at the same time that Mitchell Robinson, a top ten prospect in the Class of 2017, joins the program. Head coach Rick Stansbury already has Willie Carmichael, who started 19 games as a freshman at Tennessee in 2014-15, on the roster as well as Justin Johnson, who averaged 14.9 points and 7.9 boards as a sophomore last season.
(UPDATE: Hours after this story posted, Western Kentucky added a commitment from Moustapha Diagne, a former top 50 recruit and Syracuse commit. He’ll be eligible in 2017-18 as well.)
And that’s assuming they’re done adding pieces, which would be silly. Stansbury has already landed those two in addition to a pair of grad transfers -- Providence’s Junior Lomomba and Washington State’s Que Johnson -- this offseason.
Is anyone surprised Stansbury got Western Kentucky rolling quickly? You shouldn’t be.