Since Eric Konkol took over the Tulsa men's basketball program, recruiting activity has been at a level not seen at TU in about a decade. Part of that is out of necessity, with two open scholarships available, but this coaching staff is also just very aggressive on the recruiting trail. And I'm expecting more scholarships to likely come open.
Two of the most discussed transfers have been Oklahoma State's Keylan Boone and Louisiana Tech's Kenneth Lofton, Jr. Boone made an unofficial visit to TU, but sources told Inside Tulsa Sports last week that he was looking to get out of state, and he's done just that -- committing to Pacific on the west coast.
Lofton has been training for the NBA Draft while considering staying in college and transferring to another school. TU coaches obviously recruited and coached Lofton at LA Tech, but he is yet to make any final decisions about his future.
Here is a look at the latest recruiting activity...
NEW PORTAL PROSPECTS
• I mentioned 6-11, 225 lb. Theo Akwuba of Louisiana-Lafayette in the last update, and TU appears to still be involved. Akwuba is a grad transfer that would have one year. Last season, he played in 25 games with 18 starts. He led the team and tied for second in the Sun Belt with 2.0 blocks per game and also averaged 7.9 rebounds, which ranked second on the Louisiana roster and fourth in the conference. Akwubu averaged 9.1 points per game, ranking third on the team. In 2021, he was the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Second-Team All-Sun Belt and a Lefty Driesell Defensive All-American.
• TU has been in contact with Coastal Carolina's Ebrima Dibba. The 6-foot-6 guard started 31 of 32 games last season, averaging 8.1 points per game, while shooting 45.9 percent from the field, 35.5 percent on his three-point attempts and 80.2 percent at the free throw line. He also averaged 4.8 rebounds per game and led the team and the Sun Belt Conference with 173 assists. He also led the conference in assists per game with 5.5, which was 22nd nationally. Dibba has visited Ohio and was scheduled to visit South Carolina today. He's a grad transfer, but I believe he still has two seasons due to the COVID year.
• 6-5 UTEP guard Keonte Kennedy has been in contact with TU. He played as a freshman at Xavier and then sat out as a transfer to UTEP during the 2019-20 season. He started all 24 games in the 2020-21 season, averaging 8.6 per game. He was injured for the first part of last season but came back and started 16 of the last 19 games, while leading the team in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and steals (1.8 spg) and ranking third in scoring (14.1 ppg) and minutes per game (33.4). I believe he has two years remaining.
• Tulsa has also reached out to 6-3 Marquette guard Greg Elliott, a grad transfer with one year to play. He averaged 7 points, 2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 16.8 minutes per game last season. He's made 40.9 percent of his three-pointers over his career (94-of-230) and is a career 82-percent shooter from the charity stripe.
• 7-footer Xavier Foster, a transfer from Iowa State, has also reported contact with TU coaches. Foster was the top recruit in Iowa State's 2020 class, but was removed from the team last October as he was a potential suspect in a sexual assualt investigation. In February 2022, Foster was cleared. “We are not moving forward with charges against Xavier Foster,” Ames Police Commander Dan Walter told The Des Moines Register. “He’s no longer being looked at as a potential suspect in the investigation.” Foster is now looking for a fresh start elsewhere. “I’m clear now. I’m able to build my reputation up through what I do and through basic life," he told The Des Moines Register. Foster is looking for a 4-year college in a warmer location. The warmer the better, apparently. He is scheduled to visit SMU this weekend.
• Lastly, TU has contacted a pair of transfers from Duquesne -- guards Primo Spears and Leon Ayers III. Spears is getting a lot of high-major attention after a stellar freshman season at Duquesne, in which he started 28 of 30 games and averaged a team high 32.2 minutes per game. He led the team in scoring (12.7 ppg.) and assists (91/3.0 per game) and was second in steals (39/1.3 per game). Ayers is a grad transfer that started 14 of 27 games, averaging 10 points, 4 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
2022 JUCO AND HIGH SCHOOL PROSPECTS
• Shelton State CC guard Jaykwon Walton has been in contact with Tulsa after receiving a release from his letter of intent with Mississippi State. Walton, from Columbus, Georgia, is one of the nation's top junior college prospects spending this past season at Shelton State Community College in Alabama after he spent the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns at Georgia. He has two years of eligibility remaining. In 22 games at Shelton State, he averaged 12.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists, while shooting 35.6 percent from the three-point line.
• In the April 16 recruiting update, I mentioned new TU offers to 4-star forward KyeRon Lindsay and 3-star wing Alex Anamekwe. Lindsay hosted Tulsa coaches for an in-home visit last week. LSU and SMU were also in to see him. He has a busy schedule over the next week, but I'm hearing Tulsa is trying to get him on campus after that. TU is also apparently working to get Anamekwe on campus for a visit as well. To refresh your memory, Lindsay de-committed from UNLV recently and Anamekwe got his release from SMU.
2023 PROSPECTS
• In case you missed it, over the weekend, Tulsa offered 4-star guard Malik Presley of San Marcos, Texas. TU is also showing recent strong interest in 4-star Arlington Martin guard Kordel Jefferson, 3-star Ada (OK) forward Kaden Cooper, Blytheville (AR) forward Rashaud Marshall and Ketraleus "Bo" Aldridge from Topeka (KS).
Two of the most discussed transfers have been Oklahoma State's Keylan Boone and Louisiana Tech's Kenneth Lofton, Jr. Boone made an unofficial visit to TU, but sources told Inside Tulsa Sports last week that he was looking to get out of state, and he's done just that -- committing to Pacific on the west coast.
Lofton has been training for the NBA Draft while considering staying in college and transferring to another school. TU coaches obviously recruited and coached Lofton at LA Tech, but he is yet to make any final decisions about his future.
Here is a look at the latest recruiting activity...
NEW PORTAL PROSPECTS
• I mentioned 6-11, 225 lb. Theo Akwuba of Louisiana-Lafayette in the last update, and TU appears to still be involved. Akwuba is a grad transfer that would have one year. Last season, he played in 25 games with 18 starts. He led the team and tied for second in the Sun Belt with 2.0 blocks per game and also averaged 7.9 rebounds, which ranked second on the Louisiana roster and fourth in the conference. Akwubu averaged 9.1 points per game, ranking third on the team. In 2021, he was the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Second-Team All-Sun Belt and a Lefty Driesell Defensive All-American.
• TU has been in contact with Coastal Carolina's Ebrima Dibba. The 6-foot-6 guard started 31 of 32 games last season, averaging 8.1 points per game, while shooting 45.9 percent from the field, 35.5 percent on his three-point attempts and 80.2 percent at the free throw line. He also averaged 4.8 rebounds per game and led the team and the Sun Belt Conference with 173 assists. He also led the conference in assists per game with 5.5, which was 22nd nationally. Dibba has visited Ohio and was scheduled to visit South Carolina today. He's a grad transfer, but I believe he still has two seasons due to the COVID year.
• 6-5 UTEP guard Keonte Kennedy has been in contact with TU. He played as a freshman at Xavier and then sat out as a transfer to UTEP during the 2019-20 season. He started all 24 games in the 2020-21 season, averaging 8.6 per game. He was injured for the first part of last season but came back and started 16 of the last 19 games, while leading the team in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and steals (1.8 spg) and ranking third in scoring (14.1 ppg) and minutes per game (33.4). I believe he has two years remaining.
• Tulsa has also reached out to 6-3 Marquette guard Greg Elliott, a grad transfer with one year to play. He averaged 7 points, 2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 16.8 minutes per game last season. He's made 40.9 percent of his three-pointers over his career (94-of-230) and is a career 82-percent shooter from the charity stripe.
• 7-footer Xavier Foster, a transfer from Iowa State, has also reported contact with TU coaches. Foster was the top recruit in Iowa State's 2020 class, but was removed from the team last October as he was a potential suspect in a sexual assualt investigation. In February 2022, Foster was cleared. “We are not moving forward with charges against Xavier Foster,” Ames Police Commander Dan Walter told The Des Moines Register. “He’s no longer being looked at as a potential suspect in the investigation.” Foster is now looking for a fresh start elsewhere. “I’m clear now. I’m able to build my reputation up through what I do and through basic life," he told The Des Moines Register. Foster is looking for a 4-year college in a warmer location. The warmer the better, apparently. He is scheduled to visit SMU this weekend.
• Lastly, TU has contacted a pair of transfers from Duquesne -- guards Primo Spears and Leon Ayers III. Spears is getting a lot of high-major attention after a stellar freshman season at Duquesne, in which he started 28 of 30 games and averaged a team high 32.2 minutes per game. He led the team in scoring (12.7 ppg.) and assists (91/3.0 per game) and was second in steals (39/1.3 per game). Ayers is a grad transfer that started 14 of 27 games, averaging 10 points, 4 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
2022 JUCO AND HIGH SCHOOL PROSPECTS
• Shelton State CC guard Jaykwon Walton has been in contact with Tulsa after receiving a release from his letter of intent with Mississippi State. Walton, from Columbus, Georgia, is one of the nation's top junior college prospects spending this past season at Shelton State Community College in Alabama after he spent the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns at Georgia. He has two years of eligibility remaining. In 22 games at Shelton State, he averaged 12.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists, while shooting 35.6 percent from the three-point line.
• In the April 16 recruiting update, I mentioned new TU offers to 4-star forward KyeRon Lindsay and 3-star wing Alex Anamekwe. Lindsay hosted Tulsa coaches for an in-home visit last week. LSU and SMU were also in to see him. He has a busy schedule over the next week, but I'm hearing Tulsa is trying to get him on campus after that. TU is also apparently working to get Anamekwe on campus for a visit as well. To refresh your memory, Lindsay de-committed from UNLV recently and Anamekwe got his release from SMU.
2023 PROSPECTS
• In case you missed it, over the weekend, Tulsa offered 4-star guard Malik Presley of San Marcos, Texas. TU is also showing recent strong interest in 4-star Arlington Martin guard Kordel Jefferson, 3-star Ada (OK) forward Kaden Cooper, Blytheville (AR) forward Rashaud Marshall and Ketraleus "Bo" Aldridge from Topeka (KS).
