Memphis Roar

MemphisRoar has confirmed through multiple sources surrounding Eric Bledsoe that Bledsoe will be a Kentucky Wildcat next year. Bledsoe will make his decision to attend Kentucky known tomorrow morning at his 10AM CST press conference. Bledsoe had visited Memphis late last week before visiting Kentucky over the weekend. MemphisRoar would like to wish Eric the best of luck to him and his future.

ESPN Evaluation
June, 2008:
Eric is a solid pass first point guard. He is excellent at running a team and creating opportunities for his teammates. He has a strong body and is effective getting in the lane for dump offs or scoring on his own. He is a good defender on the ball. Eric is an ok shooter with range to 19 feet. He has a very good basketball IQ and has good leadership ability. Eric is a tough competitor and has some bulldog in him as a player. He is an average basketball athlete.

October, 2007: A lightning quick guard who can shoot from about 20 feet and put the ball on the floor to get all the way to the rim. His effort and energy on both ends are contagious to his teammates and he is the catalyst that gets his team going. He plays within himself and does not force the action, but can take over when the game is tight. Eric is a strong powerful guard who is not afraid to challenge bigger people.

Notes
Travel Team: Birmingham Ice…Committed to Ole Miss on 10/21/08 but almost immediately reneged…Averaged 21.0 ppg and 6.0 apg as a senior…

It’s late but I wanted to let you guys know a few things.

There have been some recent reports on Kentucky sites that a local TV station in Birmingham (ABC 33/40) reported on their afternoon news that Maurice Ford has indicated that he believe that Eric Bledsoe will choose Kentucky. After reading these reports, I used my connections to track down the news director at ABC 33/40 to verify the accuracy of this report. According to the news director this is NOT what was reported at all! He said that the sportscaster who reported this said that Maurice Ford gave NO indication of the direction in which Bledsoe is leaning and that he merely speculated based upon his own personal opinion that he felt like it would be Kentucky.

There is no current, factual information from ANY source in Birmingham saying definitively Memphis or Kentucky. More than likely, tomorrow will be a day when information begins leaking to sources on both sides of this recruitment. It’s late and no news will break tonight so everyone can lay off the “refresh” button and go to bed. Sleep easy knowing that the Memphis side still feels confident in their position with Bledsoe.

After hearing rumors of a potential announcement mid-to-late week, MemphisRoar has confirmed through texts with Maurice Ford, coach at Parker High School, and other sources that Eric Bledsoe does indeed plan on announcing his college choice this Wednesday. How they plan to carry out the announcement on Wednesday has not been setup as of this morning, but we will work to bring you details on the time and location of the annoucement.

Bledsoe is currently still in Lexington, KY and will be returning home to Birmingham, AL today after a total of  5 days away from home while on official visits to Memphis and Kentucky.  Today around 3 PM

*UPDATE*

MemphisRoar was able to catch up with Bledsoe’s AAU coach Ava Herdon,  She informed Roar that Eric is currently still undecided.

“I spoke to Eric last night, and he said he liked both schools the same,” said Herdon.  “He said he went to dinner with Coach Calipari and that he enjoyed his visit, but wasn’t sure which school he liked more.”

Herdon was also able to confirm that Eric was to announce Wednesday.

Williams Update

MemphisRoar was informed early this afternoon that 2009 prospect Latavious Williams is visiting Florida International this weekend.  Florida International has now come into the picture mainly due to Williams’ AAU coach Scooter Owens’ relationship with Isaiah Thomas.  According to multiple reports from Memphis and national media, Latavious Williams was favoring Memphis and was expected to announce either Monday or Tuesday.

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MemphisRoar’s Scouting Profile for 2009 PG Eric Bledsoe.

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MemphisRoar has been working the phone lines and emails all weekend to bring you the biggest updates. Here are a few tidbits that we have confirmed:

Eric Bledsoe – The Memphis and Kentucky staffs viewed Bledsoe Friday in his home town, Birmingham, AL. University of Memphis Head Coach Josh Pastner, along with newly hired Assistant Coach Glenn Cyprien, got a chance to watch Bledsoe and sit down with him and his high school coach, Maurice Ford.

Cyprien was known to have developed an excellent relationship with Bledsoe while at the University of Kentucky. In fact, our sources have indicated that Bledsoe was expected to commit to the University before Cyprien’s departure with former Head Coach Billy Gillespie.

MemphisRoar has learned that the University of Memphis is not only back on Bledsoe’s final list, but will be a huge player in the final decision. Additionally, MemphisRoar is waiting to hear back from Bledsoe himself regarding his Friday visitors but his cell phone has been shut off, so it’s a little hard to get him right now.

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