by Alex Schwartz

There have been several commitments in the past few days, including a number of players popping to high-major programs. There have been pledges from ranked players in both 2011 and 2012 as well as unranked players in 2012 and 2013 deciding on their future institution.

Just days after getting their releases from Maryland and George Washington respectively, both Sterling Gibbs and Erik Copes are once again off the board. Gibbs, a 6'1 point guard out of Seton Hall Prep (NJ), was originally set to attend Maryland, but will now be heading to Texas. Copes, a 6'8 power forward out of Imhotep Charter (PA), is now set to attend George Mason after previously inking with George Washington.

Gibbs (pictured on left), the #76 ranked player in the D1 Hoops Report Class of 2011 Top 150, was the top available point guard in the senior class. He announced his pledge to the Longhorns on his Twitter account. The younger brother of Pitt guard Ashton Gibbs, Sterling is now part of an outstanding six-man recruiting class for Rick Barnes.

In addition to Gibbs, UT will welcome five other ranked players, joining St. John's as the only schools with pledges from six players in the D1HR 2011 Top 150. The headliner of the class is #11 ranked 6'2 point guard Myck Kabongo of Findlay Prep (NV), who spent his previous three seasons in New Jersey—where Gibbs is from—at St. Benedict's.

The other four members of Texas' class are #49 ranked 6'5 shooting guard Sheldon McClellan of Bellaire (TX), #84 ranked 6'8 power forward Jonathan Holmes of Antonian Prep (TX), #104 ranked 6'4 shooting guard Julien Lewis of LaMarque (TX), and #146 ranked 6'7 small forward Kevin Thomas of Christian Faith Center (NC).

Erik Copes (pictured on right), whose commitment was broken by recent CBSSports.com hire Jeff Goodman, is following his uncle, Roland Houston, to George Mason. Houston was an assistant under ex-George Washington coach Karl Hobbs, but he was hired by Paul Hewitt at GMU.

The #149 ranked player in the D1HR 2011 Top 150, Copes is the lone player on the list who is headed to a CAA program. Copes is the third member of GMU's 2011 recruiting class, joining 5'11 point guard Corey Edwards of Christ the King (NY) and 6'5 small forward Vaughn Gray of St. Benedict's (NJ).

In a couple of other class of 2011 commitments, 6'0 point guard Tyrell Corbin of Salt Lake City West (UT) popped to UC Davis and 6'9 center Josh Gomez of Rice (NY) pledged to Iona. Corbin, the son of Utah Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin, is a quality pickup for new Aggies head coach Jim Les. Utah Sports Action had the news of his commitment. Gomez has made major strides in his game over the past few years and could end up being a very nice get for the Gaels. His commitment was reported by Gotham Hoops Scouting.

The best player to commit recently was 6'4 class of 2012 shooting guard Torian Graham (pictured on left) of Word of God Christian Academy (NC). The #30 ranked player in the D1 Hoops Report Class of 2012 Spring Top 75, Graham pledged to the local North Carolina State Wolfpack, per Pack Insider.

Graham, who has increased his stock with his play on the AAU circuit this spring, is the second member the 2012 recruiting class of NC State. He joins #65 ranked 5'11 point guard Tyler Lewis of Forsyth Country Day (NC). Graham is the ninth highest ranked committed player in the 2012 class and is a huge first commitment for new NC State head coach Mark Gottfried.

The other ranked player to take his name off the board in the past few days is 6'5 class of 2012 small forward Damien Wilson (pictured on right) of Oak Hill Academy (VA). A native of Georgia, Wilson is ranked #50 in the D1HR 2012 Top 75 and is the first pledge for Josh Pastner is the crop of rising seniors. He announced his commitment to the Tigers on Twitter.

Wilson is quite close with a couple of other superb 2012 prospects from Georgia in Atlanta Celtics AAU teammates Shaq Goodwin of Southwest Dekalb (GA) and Jordan Adams of Oak Hill. The trio have discussed attending school together and all of them have considered Memphis, so the Tigers may well make a push for Goodwin and/or Adams. Goodwin is a 6'8 power forward ranked #10 in the D1HR 2012 Top 75 and Adams is a 6'5 small forward who checks in at #58.

VCU landed its first major pledge after its incredible run to the Final Four of the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Scout's Evan Daniels broke the news that the Rams had landed a commitment from 6'8 power forward Justin Tuoyo of Lovejoy (GA). The first member, per ESPN, of Shaka Smart's 2012 recruiting class, Tuoyo garnered a nice amount of high-major interest.

Georges Niang, a 6'7 class of 2012 power forward out of Tilton School (NH), pledged to the Iowa State Cyclones, per Dan Ventura of BostonHerald.com. A highly productive post player whose stock has risen of late, Niang has been a key part of BABC's success on the AAU circuit over the past couple summers.

Evan Daniels had the news that Mark Turgeon landed his first pledge as the Maryland head coach in 6'2 class of 2012 shooting guard Seth Allen of Fredericksburg Christian (VA). He is the second commitment for the Terrapins in the 2012 class, joining #33 ranked 6'5 small forward Justin Anderson of Montrose Christian (MD), who is also from Virginia.

Dave Telep of ESPN had the news that 6'3 class of 2013 shooting guard Patrick Rooks of Charlotte Christian (NC) had made an early commitment to the Clemson Tigers. He is the first commitment for Brad Brownell in the 2013 class.

Note- photo of Gibbs is from http://www.nj.com/; photo of Copes is from http://www.tedsilary.com/; photos of Graham and Wilson are from http://scouthoops.scout.com/