Tulsa Basketball adds four signees with more to come

Tulsa’s four spring basketball commitments signed letters of intent with the Golden Hurricane this week. The University officially announced three of them on Wednesday, April 15, which was the first day of the regular basketball signing period. The fourth was made official on Thursday.

TU signed 3-star guard Keshawn Williams in the early November period and has now added two junior college transfers, a Division-1 transfer and another high school senior. The Hurricane still has one available scholarship, and a top TU target – Christian Shumate from Chicago Heights – is expected to announce his decision on Friday.

As expected, the four signees on Wednesday included Rod Brown of Pearl River CC, Austin Richie of Triton College, Rey Idowu from Illinois State and Peyton Urbancic of First Baptist Academy in Naples, Florida.

"We're excited about these young men joining our program. Together with our November signing of Keshawn, we've added a class that brings tremendous scoring from outside and inside,” said Tulsa head coach Frank Haith. “Guys that are gym rats, but also good character student-athletes who fit in well at The University of Tulsa.”

After racking up almost 20 scholarship offers, including several from high-major programs, Chicago Heights (IL) Bloom guard Keshawn Williams signed with Tulsa in November. The 6-foot-2, 170-pounder made an official visit to the Golden Hurricane campus in October.

"They'd been recruiting me for a long time," Williams told Inside Tulsa Sports. "When I actually took the visit, it felt like home. The coaching staff is great people, and the community is great to be around as well.

"Beautiful campus and beautiful facilities. Definitely something I can see myself in for the next four years. I loved it."

Williams also held offers from West Virginia, Colorado, Kansas State, UAB, Southern Illinois, St. Louis, Colorado State, Missouri State, DePaul and several others after a solid junior season, when he averaged 16 points, five assists, five rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.

"I feel I'm best at scoring the ball and using my athleticism on both the offensive side and defensive side," he explained.

Bloom finished 28-6 this season with a 15-1 conference record. Williams was an all-conference selection after averaging 15.3 points, five rebounds and four assists.

“Keshawn is a talent. He is one of the top players in the country and will be a dynamic player in our program during his collegiate career," said Haith. "One thing I love about Keshawn is that he is all about winning. When he is needed to score, he can get to the rim, he can score on the perimeter or create scoring opportunities for his teammates.

“When his team needs a big play defensively, he wants to shoulder that responsibility too. He is going to fit well with how we are building this program for the future.”

Pearl River Community College forward Rodgerick Brown committed to Tulsa back in January after taking an official visit to Tulsa in late December. He began his college career at Wichita State, where he played as a freshman.

“I just felt like [Tulsa is] the best place and decision for me to play,” said Brown. “Great coaching staff and environment.”

As a sophomore this season, Brown averaged 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, earning selection to the NJCAA All-Region 23 First-Team.

Another junior college transfer, Triton College forward Austin Richie committed to Tulsa just last week. The 6-foot-6 sharpshooter chose TU on April 10 over offers from Cal State Fullerton, Loyola Marymount, IPFW and others.

"Austin is coming off an All-America season at Triton College where he was one of the best shooters in all of junior college basketball,” said Haith. “He adds maturity and has experience at the Division I level having started his career at Northern Illinois.

“This year at Triton really helped in his development. Not only was he able to develop his perimeter game, but his overall game took a big step forward which made him one of the more coveted transfer targets in the country.”

Richie led NJCAA Region 4 in three-pointers made with 120 and was eighth overall in three-point percentage at 44.9 percent. He started 32 of 33 games, averaging 16.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, and shot 85.2 percent from the free throw line as a Third-Team All-American.

Naples (FL) First Baptist Academy wing Peyton Urbancic was an overlooked gem that chose TU on March 27. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard also had offers from Army and Oral Roberts.

After playing power forward as a junior, Urbancic switched to point guard as a senior, averaging 17.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while leading the Lions to a 22-8 record and a trip to the regional finals.

The Florida Athletic Coaches Association chose Urbancic as Class 2A District Player of the Year in Southwest Florida, and he was also one of 11 statewide finalists for the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 2A Player of the Year.

“The coaching staff really just made me feel comfortable about choosing Tulsa,” Urbancic said. “It was a no-brainer.”

Tulsa’s lone Division-1 transfer comes from Illinois State big man Rey Idowu. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per contest as a sophomore this season.

“I feel really good about the relationship I’m building with Coach Haith and love his plans for my development to help the program stay successful in the future,” he told Inside Tulsa Sports. “The school is in a great city and has a great business program. I want to be a part of something special and maintain the winning culture Coach Haith has built there.”

Under current NCAA rules, Division-1 transfers must sit out a year, but Idowu plans to apply for a waiver.

“I am really excited to get Rey into our program and love what he adds to our team and the energy and enthusiasm he plays with on the court,” said Haith. “He comes in with an understanding of what it's like competing in Division I basketball. He played a lot of meaningful minutes at Illinois State.”

While the 2020 recruiting class is already impressive, Tulsa could add one more. As mentioned previously, 6-foot-6 athletic forward Christian Shumate, a teammate of TU signee Keshawn Williams at Chicago heights (IL) Bloom, is a top Hurricane recruiting target and expects to make a decision on Friday. Read more on Shumate in Hurricane Alley.