5-Star Center Precious Achiuwa Commits to Memphis and Coach Penny Hardaway
By Max Scoli
Head coach Penny Hardaway just secured another star recruit as Precious Achiuwa committed to the University of Memphis on Friday.
Breaking: ESPN 100's No. 17 recruit Precious Achiuwa tells @PaulBiancardi that he will be joining Memphis. pic.twitter.com/bVxzcGN7Vu
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 17, 2019
Achiuwa ranks as a 5-star recruit out of the Bronx, NY. The 6-9 forward had offers from several powerhouse schools including Kansas, UCLA and UConn, before ultimately deciding to join Memphis' stacked 2019 class.
ESPN no.17 Precious Achiuwa to Memphis. Achiuwa is a high level athlete. His calling card is to compete on the glass & finish plays. He is extremely valuable & versatile as a switch defender. Offense is developing. Memphis is now no.1 in the class rankings.
— Paul Biancardi (@PaulBiancardi) May 17, 2019
With this commitment, Memphis jumped Duke University for No. 1 in ESPN's 2019 class rankings. In addition to signing five 4-star recruits in Lester Quinones (Achiuwa's former AAU teammate), Damion Baugh, D.J. Jeffries, Malcolm Dandridge and Boogie Ellis, Memphis also will have James Wiseman next year, not only a 5-star recruit but the top commit in the nation.
With Precious Achiuwa joining Memphis, the Tigers are now the No. 1 class in the country ? pic.twitter.com/Aczsu6Fxmc
— ESPN (@espn) May 17, 2019
Achiuwa showed his excitement to join forces with Hardaway and Wiseman.
"I talk with the [Memphis] coaching staff pretty much everyday. I talk to Mike a lot, and I talk to Penny a lot," Achiuwa said at the time. "I talk to James Wiseman. We talk a lot about what might happen, and that we might be able to do something special at Memphis."
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ @PreciousAchiuwa The Best Player at NBPA Top 100 Camp. pic.twitter.com/WSNXfNzu0u
— UnTapped (@UnTapped_Sports) June 16, 2018
Memphis seems destined for their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2014.