Eric Curry, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound senior forward from Little Rock (AK) Southwest Christian Academy, announced that he will attend Minnesota Wednesday morning. Curry visited Minnesota September 3rd for the TCU-Minnesota football game along with Amir Coffey of Hopkins, who committed Monday.
Curry averaged 15.4 points and 8.6 rebounds per game as a junior for Southwest Christian Academy last season. The school plays as an independent with a national schedule that includes powerhouses like Oak Hill Academy of Virginia, Huntington Prep from West Virginia.
Curry played for the Arkansas Wings in the Nike EYBL circuit, leading them to a 12-5 mark. He averaged 10.1 points, second on the team and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game. Curry shot 52.9% from the field and 76.2% from the line.
Curry is considered a three-star recruit by ESPN and Rivals and a four-star by Scout.
Arkansas Wings head man Ron Crawford feels that Minnesota got an excellent addition.
“Minnesota gets a very solid player with strong up side. He is a good student and a great teammate.”
Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino did an outstanding job of recruiting Curry and his mother, Audrea Phipps, who became a Twitter favorite that many basketball fans began following during the recruiting process.
“Mother Audrea Phipps is truly dedicated to her kids, she organized and supervised the recruiting process. Coach Pitino and his staff did a great job recruiting and connecting with Eric and His Mother.”
Amir Coffey, who committed Monday, told KSTP that he had been working on getting Curry to join him at Minnesota.
“We talked a lot with the players and the coaches. I am going to give him a call after I get home. I do like their chances. He told me that he likes it a lot. He took three or four other visits, but I have been in his ear ever since I made my decision, so I do like the Gophers’ chances.”
Curry is the third commitment to join Minnesota along with Curry and forward Michael Hurt of Rochester John Marshall.
This most likely signals the end of the Gophers’ recruiting for the Class of 2016. Minnesota will lose seniors Joey King and Carlos Morris to graduation after the 2015-16 season. Jarvis Johnson, a 6-foot-1 guard from Minneapolis (MN) DeLaSalle, will sit out the upcoming season, due to a heart condition and his future is uncertain.
6-foot-9 Reed Nikko, a 2016 big man from Maple Grove, received an offer from Minnesota this summer and many Gopher fans expected him to commit shortly afterwards. However, it looks like the two sides will go separate ways and Nikko has an official visit planned to Kansas State October 10th.