by Alex Schwartz

Over the past few days, a handful of players have opted to end their recruitment in the early signing period. Some of them were expected to wait until the spring while for others it had been unclear as to what they would do. Here is the rundown on five quality prospects who have recently taken their names off the board:

First and foremost, the #26 ranked player in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125, 6'8 power forward Tarik Black of Ridgeway (TN) committed to Memphis, just as Northstar Basketball predicted. Currently ranked as the #8 power forward in the nation—Black's rank will drop a bit when I release my new rankings, but he will not fall too far—the big man is the third player to commit to and sign with the Tigers during the early signing period. First it was 6'8 center Hippolyte Tsafack '10 of The Miller School (VA) on the 11th and then 6'6 small forward Jelan Kendrick '10 of Wheeler (GA), ranked #11 nationally by Northstar Basketball, on the 14th. Black picked Memphis over Marquette, Alabama, and Florida.

With the addition of Kendrick along with Tsafack, Memphis had taken hold of the title of top recruiting class in 2010, though there still could have been a debate with Ohio State. Now that Black is in the fold, there is no longer any question as to who has the best class in the country. In just seven months on the job, new Memphis Head Coach Josh Pastner has already landed seven players and assembled a class that rivals any one that his predecessor John Calipari put together. The Tigers have five players in the top 75, four in the top 30, and three in the top dozen. No one else even has three in the top 35 and only one—Ohio State—even has four top 75 commits.

It should also be noted that the nation's top two classes, Memphis and Ohio State, were built by landing four players from an elite in-state AAU squad. Memphis got #10 Joe Jackson, #11 Jelan Kendrick, #28 Tarik Black, and #72 Chris Crawford—Kendrick is the only one not from Memphis—from the Memphis Magic, one of the top programs in the country. Meanwhile, Ohio State got #2 Jared Sullinger, #46 Aaron Craft, #54 Jordan Sibert, and #102 JD Weatherspoon from All-Ohio Red, the best AAU squad in America.

The other player ranked in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125 to commit in the past few days was #34 Tony Mitchell, a 6'7 power forward out of Pinkston (TX). Ranked #9 at his position, the hard-working Mitchell selected Missouri over Georgetown and North Texas. Mitchell, who had been committed to Kansas State at one point, may have boosted his stock more than anyone over the summer, as he really built a name for himself and gained a lot more high-major interest.

Mitchell is the fourth member of Mike Anderson's class of 2010 at the Big XII school, the second of whom is ranked by Northstar Basketball. In fact, both Mitchell and 5'9 point guard Phil Pressey from Episcopal School of Dallas (TX) are in the top half of the rankings. Pressey, whose father is former NBA player Paul Pressey, checks in at #62. That pair combines with Ricky Kreklow of Rock Bridge (MO) and Kadeem Green from United Faith Christian Academy (NC) to give these Tigers, who made the Elite Eight this past season, a top 20 recruiting class as of now.

When I got in touch with Sagemont School (FL) Head Coach Adam Ross last Wednesday for my Early Signing Period Day One Updates, he informed me that standout wing Will Sheehey '10 was unsure if he would sign early or late. "Will is deciding on whether or not to sign in this period or wait until the spring," stated Coach Ross. Well, Sheehey has made up his mind and the Sunshine State standout is headed to Indiana. The Hoosiers only recently started recruiting Will, but did enough in a short period of time to earn his signature. Sheehey joins Victor Oladipo of DeMatha (MD) in Tom Crean's class of 2010. Georgia Tech, Northwestern, and Stanford were amongst the other schools involved in Sheehey's recruitment.

Some other information that I reported in that same Early Signing Period Day One Updates article was that Ashton Pankey '10 of St. Anthony's (NJ) would be announcing his choice this week according to his AAU coach with New Heights NYC, Adam Berkowitz. This is exactly what happened, and the 6'8 power forward, ranked #16 in Northstar Basketball's list of New Jersey's Fab 45 Upperclassmen, is headed to Maryland. Pankey, a New York native, is the fourth commit for Gary Williams in the class of 2010, joining Mychal Parker of The Miller School (VA), Terrence Ross of Montrose Christian (MD), and Terrell Stoglin of Santa Rita (AZ). Parker is ranked #30 in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125 and Ross is #73. Pankey selected Maryland over Houston, as those were the two he had narrowed his list down to.

Another New York native, Russ Smith '10 of South Kent (CT) has made his selection. Smith, a 6'2 combo guard who graduated from Archbishop Molloy (NY) currently doing a post-grad year, is headed to Louisville. Smith was a co-MVP of the 2009 Jordan Brand Classic Regional Game and is an elite scorer. Smith had a wide array of interest from high-major programs as well as some quality mid-major ones too. Smith is the lone commitment for Rick Pitino is the class of 2010, though the Cardinals have the making of a top-notch group in 2011.

Sam Mills '10 from Cardinal Gibbons (FL) opted not to take one of his high-major offers and instead became a huge coup for the La Salle Explorers. Mills selected John Giannini and Co. over Georgia Tech, Delaware, Marshall, Auburn, Northwestern, and Florida State. Mills joins Tyreek Duren of Neumann-Goretti (PA) and Matt Lopez of Washington Township (NJ) in La Salle's class of 2010. All three players have officially signed with the Atlantic-10 school.

Over the next three days, at least two more players ranked in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125—both New Yorkers who are in the top 80—will come off the board. Jayvaughn Pinkston, a 6'5 combo forward of Bishop Loughlin (NY), will announce between Marquette, Seton Hall, St. John's, Tennessee, and Villanova on Wednesday, the final day of the early signing period. Pinkston, the top senior in NYC, was originally expected to wait until the spring as shown in my article on him for VUSports.com. The Wildcats have been considered Pinkston's leader, but it will be interesting to see if him signing early changes that. All five schools have a legitimate shot to land Jayavughn.

On Thursday, the day after the early signing period is over, #17 ranked Tobias Harris '10, a 6'8 combo forward from Half Hollow Hills West (NY) will make his commitment. Harris, who had a fantastic summer with the Albany City Rocks, is down to seven schools. Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Syracuse, Tennessee, and West Virginia are the programs vying for Harris. Right now is unclear as to who is the leader and all seven really seem to have at least a shot at him, though a few may be just a bit behind. Once Harris and Pinkston decide, there will be just 14 uncommitted players who are ranked in the top 125 by Northstar Basketball.

It has been a busy week to say the least, but the early signing period is about to come to a close so the commitments should slow down a bit.

Note- photo of Tarik Black is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/ and photo of Tony Mitchell is from http://www.nbadraft.net/