TSU Announces Recruiting Class for 2013-14

Nashville, Tennessee - Men's Basketball head coach Travis Williams has announced the class of 2016. Jamontae Davis (Nashville), Jamonte Graham (Nashville), and Rhyan Townes (Memphis) will join the Tigers for the 2013-14 season.

"We are always trying to stay local when the talent presents itself in the state of Tennessee," said Williams. "We were able to get two local guys in Davis and Graham out of respectable programs, which had tremendous summers on the AAU scene. For our first recruiting class, it is great to be able to get these types of players to set the foundation for future success of the program. These guys are impact players. There is always an adjustment process coming from high school to college, but I believe these young men will adjust quite nicely."
 

Davis is a 6-8, 200-pound forward and is listed as the No. 50-ranked forward according to ESPN Recruiting Nation. The Hillsboro High School product was selected to the All-City team as a freshman and was a part of the AAU Team Nashville that was ranked as high as 11th in the nation in 2012. The two-year member of the Avid Program intends to major in Business at TSU. Davis has been involved with humanitarian projects, such as clean-up help to flood victims and building access ramps for a teammate's parent's home.

"He is a very skilled combo player who reminds me of Robert Covington," Williams said. "He comes with a little more body size. He is very capable of playing inside/outside, three-point shooting, and putting it on the floor with good ball skills." 

A 6-1, 195-pound guard, Graham hails from Father Ryan High School and intends to major in Special Education. Graham helped head coach Doug Bondrager and FRHS reach the semifinals at the Tennessee State Championships in 2012. He was named to the All-Region team as a sophomore and to the All-State team as a junior after averaging 18 points per game. A multiple sport athlete at Father Ryan, Graham was selected to the All-Mid Region, All-Mid State and All-State teams in football as a junior. His brother Jamie, played basketball as a freshman at Vanderbilt and competed for the Commodores football team for three seasons. Jamie completed his collegiate football career at UCLA.

"[Graham] is a talented two sport star at Father Ryan. He is a player that succeeds wherever they put him on the field. As far as basketball, he is a tough hard-nosed player capable of playing the combo position for us. He brings a physicality to the program that I am very excited about."

Townes is a 6-5, 192-pound guard who prepped at Arlington High School and played for head coach Don Deaton. In 2012, Townes guided AHS to the second round of regionals for the first time in school history. As a junior, he averaged 14 points per game, including a season high 28 points against defending state champions Craigmont High School. For his play he was named a part of the Pepsi/Commercial Appeal AAA Best of the Preps. Townes played for Jerry Starks and Team Thad who finished as 2012 AAU Tennessee State champions and finished the summer ranked 11th in the nation. In the classroom, he has shown excellence academically and has been a member of the Principals Honor Roll every semester. Townes is a member of the National Honor Society, National Science Honor Society and the National Beta Club. He plans to major in Civil Engineering.

"[Townes] epitomizes what it means to be a student-athlete. Bottom line, he is taking care of business academically. On the court, you look at his skill set and he is a very talented player that had a great summer. Academically and athletically, he is the type of player we are recruiting to Tennessee State University."

 

 

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