Whitfield School basketball standout Torrence Watson has given a verbal commitment to The Ohio State University.
The 6’5” shooting guard announced his commitment on his Twitter account on Monday night. He chose the Buckeyes over a final group of schools that included Missouri, Saint Louis U., Michigan, Vanderbilt, Butler, Creighton, Kansas State and Marquette.
A four-star recruit, Watson is currently ranked the No. 56 player in the Class of 2018 by the recruiting website ESPN.com. He is also ranked in the Top 100 by Rivals.com.
Watson is one of the most dynamic offensive players in the state of Missouri. As a junior, he scored a school-record 808 points and averaged 28 points a game to lead the St. Louis metro area in scoring. Watson led the Warriors to a 22-10 record and a berth in the Class 3 state championship game. He will enter his senior year with 1,618 points.
Watson has been playing with the Ramey-Jets United 17U team during the summer grassroots season in the Adidas Uprising Gauntlet Series. Watson averaged 13 points a game to help lead Ramey-Jets United to a 6-2 record in the Gauntlet regular season and a berth in this week’s Adidas Gauntlet Finale in Spartanburg, S.C.
Local quarterbacks commit to the Service Academies
A pair of standout Class of 2018 quarterbacks from the St. Louis metro area have given verbal pledges to the US Service Academies in the past week. Tionne Harris of Vianney has given a verbal commitment to the US Army at West Point. The 5’9” 185-pound Harris led the Golden Griffins to the Class 5 state championship last season. As a junior, Harris accounted for more than 4,000 yards of total offense and 32 touchdowns. He passed for 2,549 yards and 19 touchdowns while rushing for 1,502 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Quarterback Christian Perez of East St. Louis has given a pledge to the US Naval Academy on Monday night. The 6’2” 185-pound Perez transferred to East St. Louis after a standout junior season at O’Fallon. As a junior, Perez passed for 1,781 yards and 18 touchdowns for the Panthers.
St. Louis Surge to host WBCBL Nationals
The St. Louis Surge clinched a spot in the Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League postseason with a 90-79 victory over the Midwest Flyers last Saturday night at Washington University.
As a bonus, the Surge will also be hosting the WBCBL National Tournament, which will be held on August 5-6 at Fontbonne University. St. Louis won the national championship in 2014 in New Orleans and last season in San Antonio.
The Surge (9-0) will conclude its home regular season on Sunday as they host the Arkansas Stingers at the Washington University Fieldhouse. Tip-off is at 2:05 p.m.
Local hoopers head to national tournaments this week
A pair of top local grassroots basketball teams will be headed out of town to play in prestigious national tournaments this week. The Brad Beal Elite 17U team will be playing in the Nike EYBL Peach Jam in Augusta, Ga. The Ramey-Jets United 17U team will be participating in the Adidas Gauntlet Finale in Spartanburg, S.C.
