The Shaq Goodwin recruiting saga came to an end Wednesday afternoon when the Southwest Dekalb star officially signed his letter-of-intent several hours before the midnight deadline. Goodwin made waves last week when he abruptly committed to the Tigers after only taking two of his five allowed official visits.
Shortly after his commitment was announced, rumors surfaced that perhaps Goodwin had made his announcement without discussing the decision with his family. It was thought that Goodwin would wait until April to sign but threw everyone another curve ball today when he made it official by signing.
Goodwin is regarded as a top 25 player nationally and as one of the top three players in the state of Georgia. He averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds a game last season for Southwest Dekalb and joins his for Atlanta Celtics AAU teammate Damien Wilson as part of Memphis' 2012 class. After missing out on Alex Poythress to Kentucky, Memphis coach Josh Pastner was excited to land Goodwin.
"Coach [Damon] Stoudamire and Coach [Jack] Murphy deserve all the credit on this," Memphis coach Josh Pastner said. "Shaq is extremely contagious with positive energy, and it just flows throughout his game. He plays with a tremendous motor; he's very versatile and can shoot the three. He's a very, very good rebounder as well and just a high character guy that fits right in with our current student-athletes."