His list of interested schools basically consisted of half the ACC and SEC conferences, with the likes of an Oklahoma State and Cincinnati thrown in for good measure, but today 2012 prospect Justin Tuoyo gave his verbal commitment to join one of the hottest teams in college basketball, your very own VCU Rams.
The 6’8-6’9 (depending on which scouting service you prefer) defensive specialist out of Hampton, Georgia would become the highest rated recruit to join the Rams since McDonald’s All-American and VCU Hall of Famer Kendrick Warren, who joined the VCU in 1990 and held the all-time scoring mark until a guy named Eric Maynor came along.
Tuoyo is currently rated a 4-star prospect and 16 spots inside the top 100 for the 2012 class at the 84th ranked player in the country according to Rivals.com.
ESPN.com describes Tuoyo as a “Jarvis Vanardo-type” (Vanardo was recently drafted by the Miami Heat and was the SEC defensive player of the year three consecutive seasons), and as someone who can “impact a game without scoring a point”.
This is welcome news to Ram fans who recently watched a similar style player, Larry Sanders, become VCU’s highest ever draft pick in an NBA Draft — the 15th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.
Tuoyo’s commitment marks the highest rated signing under Shaka Smart (or any of our previous four coaches for that matter), and an unbelievable start to the 2016 class.
