Roundup: Percy Gibson signs with Cyclones

By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher

The loss of Calvin Godfrey doesn’t sting so badly anymore.

Percy Gibson has signed with Iowa State. He is officially a member of Fred Hoiberg’s 2011 recruiting class.

Gibson, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound power forward out of Detroit Southeastern (Mich.) originally signed a National Letter of Intent with Dayton in November of 2010. After former Flyer head coach Brian Gregory left Dayton for Georgia Tech this spring, Gibson was released from his letter and reopened his recruitment.

When Cornell Mann was hired to Hoiberg’s staff in April, the Cyclones became an immediate frontrunner to sign Gibson, who averaged 21 points and 11.5 rebounds as a senior in high school. Mann, a former Gregory assistant, was credited for bringing Gibson to Dayton.

ONE SPOT LEFT

With Iowa State’s signing of Percy Gibson, one scholarship is currently available for Fred Hoiberg to use in the class of 2011. Look below to view Iowa State’s projected roster (as it stands today) for the 2011-12 season.

Seniors

Chris Allen, G Scott Christopherson, G

Juniors

Chris Babb, G Tyrus McGee, G Anthony Booker, F

Sophomores

Melvin Ejim, F Royce White, F Jordan Railey, C

Freshmen

Tavon Sledge, G Percy Gibson, F

Redshirts

Korie Lucious, G (senior) Will Clyburn, G (senior)

Walk-ons

BuBu Palo, G (sophomore) Aaron Law, G (freshman)

QUICK TAKE: This news is big for multiple reasons. The first is that it somewhat eases the pain of losing Calvin Godfrey a couple of weeks ago. Gibson is a big body who should be able to contribute immediately down low for Iowa State as a true freshman.

Another reason this is huge is because it might take some heat off of Cornell Mann, who ran into some trouble with the law less than a week after being hired as an assistant coach in Ames.

Finally, snagging quality this caliber of player (without baggage) this late in the recruiting game is next to impossible.

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Below is the official release that Iowa State sent out regarding Gibson’s decision.

AMES, Iowa- The Iowa State men’s basketball team added the top post player from Michigan to its 2011-12 roster, as Percy Gibson, a 6-9, 240-pound center from Detroit, has signed on to attend Iowa State University in the Fall of 2011, head coach Fred Hoiberg announced today.

Gibson originally signed a letter of intent in November to attend Dayton, but was released from his LOI after a coaching change.

The Cyclones have instantly increased their talent and depth in the middle with the addition of Gibson. The versatile big man led his Detroit Southeastern team to the 2011 Class A (big schools) Michigan state championship game, the school’s first state title game appearance since 1926. Southeastern finished the season at 23-4 and won its first Detroit Public School League title since 1956.

“To be able to sign a player of Percy’s caliber this late in the year is remarkable,” Hoiberg said. “Percy is extremely gifted offensively and defensively, and he has a body that is equipped for immediate contributions next year. He has the ability to score on the block as well as the versatility to face up away from the basket. We are looking forward to getting Percy on campus as soon as possible.”

Gibson was named to the Detroit Free Press’ six-player Dream Team in 2011 after averaging 21.2 points, 12.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in his senior campaign. He was also a Class A first-team all-state selection.

Gibson averaged 17.2 points and 11.0 rebounds as a junior.

He also considered Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.

Iowa State still has one scholarship available for the 2011-12 season.

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LINKS

– Randy Peterson from the Des Moines Registergot a couple of quotes from Percy.

– A link from the Detroit News on the story with quotes from Gibson.