Eagle Staff Writer
Khris Middleton says he appreciated the honesty from Aggie men's basketball coach Mark Turgeon as much as he did the opportunity to attend Texas A&M.
Earlier this week, Middleton, a 6-foot-7, 205-pound senior-to-be at Porter Gaud High School in Charleston, S.C., orally committed to play basketball at A&M.
"The distance from Day 1 really didn't matter to me. I just wanted to find the right school for me," Middleton said. "Their basketball program is outstanding and all that, but it's a great academic program there, to keep their athletes in check schoolwise is a huge reason why I picked Texas A&M."
Middleton is the second oral commitment from the East Coast in A&M's 2009 class. Naji Hibbert, a 6-6 shooting guard from DeMatha High School in Maryland, announced his commitment in early May.
Middleton averaged 21 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists as a junior at Porter Gaud.
He says he was recruited by assistant coach Scott Spinelli then Turgeon.
"Both guys I liked," Middleton said. "They were really honest with me. They said I needed to improve on my strength and speed to be able to play in their system, but they felt I could play in their system once I improved on that. They were just real cool, down-to-earth guys."
Middleton earned Player of the Year honors in South Carolina's private school Class 3A (the state's biggest) as a junior this season.
Porter Gaud coach John Pearson has been at the school for 14 years, the last two as head coach, and said Middleton is the most heavily recruited player the program has had.
"He's very versatile, a solid offensive basketball player who can do everything, slash, get to the basket, create his own shot back, and he can even do back-to-the-basket moves and is very accurate from long range," Pearson said. "Defensively, he's a very good team defender, and he's constantly improving his 1-on-1 defensive skills. And he's only 16, so he'll get stronger."
Pearson, who helped Middleton through the recruiting process, said his star small forward started with a list of 58 schools. He narrowed it down to a few schools nearby, Virginia Tech, South Carolina, and Clemson, and to a few within a relatively short distance away like Tennessee, St. Joseph and Georgia Tech before deciding on A&M.
"His recruiting was very open, and the fact that he chose Texas A&M speaks to the coaching staff, that he really liked them, and I think he was impressed by the area when he went on his unofficial visit," Pearson said. "He just came away with a lot of positive things about the A&M coaches and the school."
• Richard Croome's e-mail address is richard.croome@theeagle.com.
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Posted by: Aaron On: 7/9/2008
Comment Title: finally
this guy could give us what we need to get mismatches
Posted by: AggieNation On: 6/5/2008
Comment Title: Impressive
I'm really excited to see what kind of team Turgeon builds. Billy put together a team based on the high-low offense, and Turgeon wants Aggie basketball to move to motion. The more he is able to get strong committments from outstanding players like Khris, the more we will see his offensive philosophy come out... which is something to look forward to as an Aggie basketball fan.
Posted by: WHYNOT On: 6/5/2008
Comment Title: Journalism @ it's finest ? NOT !
What a go Adam ! Wonder what happened ? That's a great distance, as well. Not only wrong city, but wrong information.
Posted by: Adam On: 6/5/2008
Comment Title: Wrong city.
Porter Gaud High School is located in Charleston, not Charlotte.
