by Alex Schwartz

Just two players pledged to programs from BCS conferences on the third day of the April signing period and only a handful of others made their choices on Friday as well. The main story of the day was the surprise commitment from a top 75 prospect in the class of 2011.

Evan Daniels of Scout broke the news on Friday that 6'9 center Kevin Johnson of Taft (CA) had signed with Seton Hall. The #74 ranked player in the NBE Post-Summer Class of 2011 Top 150, Johnson had never really had his name publicly linked to SHU. A source confirmed to me that Johnson sent in his LOI to the Big East school and was officially a Pirate.

Johnson was the best available post player in the nation in 2011 class, the only uncommitted ranked center and the third best available player overall. It has been widely reported that Johnson has his work cut out for him to qualify academically, but a source tells me, "Yes he looks good [to go]."

SHU entered the April period with five commitments, just one of which was a frontcourt player. The Pirates now have a seven-man class with three big men, landing 6'9 power forward Brandon Mobley of St. John's Northwest Military Academy (WI) and Kevin Johnson on consecutive days. SHU is also bringing in 6'11 center Isaiah Hill of God's Academy (TX), 6'2 point guard Aaron Cosby of Northfield Mt. Hermon (MA), 6'2 shooting guard Freddie Wilson of Hillhouse (CT), 6'5 shooting guard Haralds Karlis of Canarias Basketball Academy (ESP), and 6'2 shooting guard Sean Grennan of Monsignor Donovan (NJ).

The New York Post reported that TCU landed a commitment from 6'8 power forward Ryan Rhoomes of NIA Prep (NJ). The New York City native is the second pickup in a week for TCU, as the Horned Frogs recently added Connell Crossland, a 6'7 small forward from John A. Logan (IL). ESPN lists one more member of the soon-to-be Big East school's 2011 class in 6'8 JuCo power forward Adrick McKinney of Angelina CC (TX).

According to Evan Daniels, Clemson picked up another piece to its 2011 class. The Tigers have reportedly landed a commitment from 6'2 point guard Rod Hall of Laney (GA), making it five players from five states in Clemson's class. Hall joins #69 ranked 6'8 power forward Bernard Sullivan of Davidson Day (NC), 6'3 point guard Daniel "TJ" Sapp of Northeast (FL), 6'3 shooting guard Devin Coleman of Friends Central (PA), and 6'7 small forward KJ McDaniels of Central Park Christian (AL) as the future Tigers.

A source informed me on Friday morning that Florida Atlantic had picked up a pair of pledges. Julien Sargent, a 6'10 JuCo center from Miami-Dade CC (FL), Omari Grier, a 6'3 shooting guard from Maine Central Institute (ME). ESPN lists Sargent and Grier as the only members of FAU's 2011 class.

BJ McGinn, the head coach at Des Moines Area CC (IA), posted on his Twitter account that 6'2 shooting guard Kannon Burrage popped to UT-San Antonio. Per ESPN, the JuCo guard is the second member of the Roadrunners' 2011 class, joining 6'2 shooting guard AJ Price of The Colony (TX).

While 6'8 power forward Jonathan Holton of Coral Gables (FL) did not commit on Friday, he did give Rhode Island some great news. According to the FLRecruitScoop Twitter page, the versatile Floridian signed his LOI with URI. Holton, the #150 ranked player in the NBE Post-Summer Class of 2011 Top 150, had verbally committed to the Rams on the final day of the early signing period, but did not sign. Now, he is officially a member of the A-10 program.

While Rhode Island signed one player, another A-10 school lost its entire recruiting class in light of its coaching change. On Wednesday, the Dayton Daily News reported that both members of Dayton's 2011 class had been granted releases from their Letters of Intent. Now, 6'8 power forward Percy Gibson of Southeastern (MI) and 6'5 small forward LaDontae Henton of Lansing Eastern (MI) are once again recruitable prospects. The two Michiganders will likely be highly sought after with the thin crop of available players.

Another player back on the market is 6'9 center Joseph Uchebo of Word of God Academy (NC), the #61 ranked player in the NBE Post-Summer Class of 2011 Top 150. Rivals' Eric Bossi first reported that the big man had asked for a release from his LOI to North Carolina State. Later, ESPN confirmed that he had indeed been granted his release. New NC State head coach Mark Gottfried now has just two 2011 commitments in #130 ranked 6'8 small forward Tyler Harris of St. Benedict's (NJ) and 6'4 shooting guard Jaqawn Raymond of Statesboro (GA).

With Kevin Johnson off the board, Uchebo is now the only available ranked center. As the top uncommitted post player in the country and the third best player on the board regardless of position, Uchebo will likely have no shortage of suitors. Interestingly, in addition to Uchebo, Word of God actually has another of the top five uncommitted centers in the 2011 class in 6'10 Yemi Makanjuola.

While most of the recent commitments have been from 2011 prospects, an underclassman made his decision on Friday as well. Hoopniks reported that 6'9 power forward Kaileb Rodriguez of ThunderRidge (CO) had taken his name off the board and pledged to the Cal Golden Bears. Rodriguez is the third 2012 big man from the Centennial State to commit in the last two months, but the other two both opted for in-state Colorado.

Speaking of Colorado, the consensus number one guard in 2013 is Colorado native Chris Thomas, and the 6'5 shooting guard evidently has a leader in his recruitment. While it is not a commitment, it is still very much news that Scout's Josh Gershon reported that Thomas told him Arizona has a "very big lead" to land his pledge. Thomas is currently at Westwind Prep (AZ), transferring there from Princeton Day Academy (MD) a few months ago.

Although not in the DI realm, the Team NJABC Twitter page put out the news on Friday night that Derek Johnson of Atlantic Christian (NJ) was off the board. The 6'5 small forward has signed with Philadelphia University, a powerhouse Division II program. Johnson is the #37 ranked player in Northstar Basketball's New Jersey Class of 2011 Fab 50.

Johnson is the fourth player on the list—all ranked between 37 and 45—to opt for a DII program. The others are #39 Bentley-bound 6'3 shooting guard JP Koury of Christian Brothers Academy (NJ), #40 St. Michael's-commit 6'6 power forward Charlie Monaghan of St. Augustine's (NJ) and #45 Bentley-pledge 6'5 small forward Jate Cheshul of Holy Spirit (NJ).

In other news, a source informed me that Illinois freshman Jereme Richmond plans to sign with Goodwin Sports. Richmond had recently announced that he would not return to Illinois and would be entering the NBA Draft. The 6'7 small forward out of Waukegan (IL) was the #38 ranked player in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125. He averaged 7.6 points and 5.0 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per game this year, per ESPN.

Note- photo on the top left is of Kevin Johnson and is from http://www.maxpreps.com/national/national.htm; photo on the bottom right is of Joseph Uchebo and is from http://www.northraleighnews.com/