Nov. 16, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Tiger Nation hopes the early signing period would never end, as the University of Memphis basketball program added another top-level talent to its 2010 class Monday. Tarik Black, a 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward from Memphis, is the seventh signee of the Tigers' 2010 class.

Black joins Antonio Barton, Will Barton, Chris Crawford, Joe Jackson, Jelan Kendrick and Hippolyte Tsafack, all becoming members of head coach Josh Pastner's first recruiting class at Memphis. With the seven signees, Memphis' class is ranked No. 1 in the country by The Sporting News, Rivals.com and Scout.com. The Tigers' class was rated No. 2 by MaxPreps.com and No. 3 by PrepStars.com, but those rankings were prior to Kendrick's and Black's signings.

The following is a short bio on Black and Pastner's comments on Black:

Tarik Black/6-8/235
Memphis, Tenn./Ridgeway HS
A consensus top-50 recruit ... Rated the No. 26 player in the country by Northstar Basketball Blog, No. 35 player by MaxPreps.com, No. 47 by Rivals.com, No. 48 by PrepStars.com and No. 54 by ESPN.com ... Rivals.com ranked him the No. 7 center in the nation ... Rated the No. 18 power forward by Scout.com ... Playing his final season of prep basketball at Ridgeway High School in 2009-10 ... Last season, helped lead Ridgeway to the District 15-AAA championship and a 26-6 overall record ... The Roadrunners defeated White Station 68-63 for the district title ... Scored 14 points in the district championship game and was named the district tournament MVP ... Ridgeway advanced to the Region 8-AAA semifinals before falling to Melrose 62-54 ... ... A member of the Memphis Magic Elite AAU team - along with teammates Chris Crawford, Joe Jackson and Jelan Kendrick -- that won the national championship at the prestigious adidas Super 64 Tournament in Las Vegas this past summer ... Scored 16 points in the championship victory.

Pastner on Tarik Black:
"Tarik is a great student-athlete and, like our other signees, fits in with the vision we have for this program. He's an athletic forward and loves to play his game above the rim. I know the city of Memphis is going to love cheering on one of its own, and we're excited to have Tarik join the Tiger basketball family."