Nov. 14, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The good news keeps pouring in for the University of Memphis basketball program, as the Tigers announced Saturday that Jelan Kendrick has signed to wear the Blue and Gray beginning in the 2010-11 season.

Kendrick is the sixth member of the Tigers' 2010 signing class, joining Antonio Barton, Will Barton, Chris Crawford, Joe Jackson and Hippolyte Tsafack. The six student-athletes are members of head coach Josh Pastner's first recruiting class at Memphis.

The following is a short bio on Kendrick and Pastner's comments on the 6-foot-6 guard from Atlanta, Ga.:

Prior to Kendrick's signing, the Tigers' 2010 class was ranked No. 2 by Scout.com, No. 2 by The Sporting News, No. 2 by Rivals.com, No. 2 by MaxPreps.com, No. 3 by ESPN.com and No. 3 by PrepStars.com.

Jelan Kendrick/6-6/185
Atlanta, Ga./Wheeler HS/Westlake HS
A consensus top-15 recruit ... Rated the No. 8 played in the nation by Rivals.com and PrepStars.com, No. 11 by Northstar Basketball Blog, No. 15 by Scout.com and No. 24 by ESPN.com ... Rivals.com also ranked him the No. 2 small forward in the country ... Scout.com rated him the nation's No. 2 shooting guard, PrepStars.com No. 3 and ESPN.com No. 4 ... Will play his final year of prep basketball in 2009-10 at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga. ... Wheeler is ranked No. 14 in MaxPreps.com national preseason high school poll... Played his junior campaign (2008-09) for Atlanta's Westlake High School ... Helped lead the Lions to a 22-7 overall record and an 11-2 conference mark ... Westlake advanced to the Georgia state Class AAAAA semifinals in 2008-09 ... Played the latter portion of the 2009 summer AAU schedule with fellow signees Joe Jackson and Chris Crawford for the Memphis Magic Elite ... His AAU squad won the national championship at the prestigious adidas Super 64 Tournament in Las Vegas this past summer.

Pastner on Jelan Kendrick:
"The city of Memphis will be excited to see Jelan wearing the Blue and Gray next year. Jelan fits in with the vision we have for the program on and off the court. At 6-foot-6, he adds tremendous size to our backcourt. Jelan is a very skilled, multi-dimensional guard who's a very good passer and has a good feel for the game."