Gopher Basketball Signs 2 Guards To 2017 Class
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The University of Minnesota men's basketball program signed to players to its incoming 2017 class on Thursday.
Coach Richard Pitino announced the team has added guards Isaiah Washington and Jamir Harris. Both are from the east coast and signed their National Letters of Intent. They will be freshman with the Gophers starting in the 2017-18 season.
Washington, a guard out of New York, is a consensus top-100 player and a four-star recruit. He's the top rated point guard out of New York and 13th best nationally, according to recruiting services. Washington averaged 17.5 points and 6.8 assists during this summer's AAU season.
Harris, out of New Jersey, is a combo guard that is ranked 12th nationally at that position. He's the fourth top prospect out of New Jersey and is known for his shooting. He averaged 11.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game last year. He also shot 38 percent from three-point range.
"We are extremely excited to announce the signing of Jamir and Isaiah," Pitino said. "I've always believed that in order to compete at the top of the Big Ten, which we hope to do, you need to have multiple good recruiting classes and we feel we've done that. Both Jamir and Isaiah are very good players and will be great student-athletes for the University of Minnesota."
The Gophers open their 2016-17 regular season against Louisiana-Lafayette Friday night.