By Monty Phan
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Mike Bibby may have a roommate.
Prep forward Eugene Edgerson signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at Arizona next season, becoming the second of the team's six recruits to do so. He had said earlier that he asked Bibby, who is from Phoenix's Shadow Mountain High School and committed to Arizona on Wednesday, to room with him next season. Edgerson is from New Orleans' St. Augustine High School and verbally committed to the Wildcats on Oct. 19.
For Arizona head coach Lute Olson, who was in Los Angeles yesterday attending the Pacific 10 Conference's men's basketball media day, it was just one more piece of the puzzle.
"He was a real key get for us in the front line, similar to Bibby in the backcourt," Olson said. "Above all else, Eugene is a winner. I watched him play 15 or 20 times this summer, and I never saw him play one possession at less than full speed.
"He doesn't have a big ego. He's only concerned about the score at the end of the game."
Edgerson helped lead his high school team to a 37-0 record as a junior last season, averaging 17 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks per game.
Arizona received verbal commitments from four other players: 6-foot-7 forward Stephen Jackson, from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.; 6-foot-7 forward Bennett Davison, from West Valley Junior College in Saratoga, Calif.; 6-foot-2 forward Quynn Tebbs, from Bingham High School in South Jordan, Utah; and 6-foot-9 Justin Wessel, from Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Though verbal commitments are non-binding, Arizona expects to receive letters from all four players in the day or two. The signing period officially began Wednesday.
Many recruiting services touted Bibby and Edgerson as two of the best high school players in the country, and several publication have rated Arizona's recruiting class as tops in the nation.