‘Freakish athlete’ is commit No. 4 for Georgia State’s basketball team
Buford's TJ Shipes with the dunk (Photo courtesy of BufordBasketball.com)
Credit the son of Georgia State’s basketball coach with help in recruiting one of the state’s top basketball prospects.
TJ Shipes, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward from Buford High School, committed to Georgia State over Utah, Rice, Old Dominion and UAB, among others. It was the fourth commitment for coach Ron Hunter’s 2012 recruiting class at Georgia State.
“TJ was real comfortable with Georgia State, and they have been recruiting him the hardest,” Buford coach Allen Whitehart said. “Coach Hunter sold TJ on his vision for the program and where he is taking it. TJ also developed a pretty good friendship with Coach Hunter’s son [RJ Hunter]. They met each other at summer camp, have stayed in touch through Facebook and Twitter, and are excited about playing together in college.”
Shipes averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds last year at Buford, which lost in the Class AA state championship game. “Georgia State is getting a freakish athlete,” Whitehart said. “He plays above the rim, he can run the floor and dunk – he’s a world-class athlete.”
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24 comments Add your comment
GStateBen
October 18th, 2011
12:04 pm
Thanks Michael!
Welcome to The Panther Family TJ!
Hammer22
October 18th, 2011
12:18 pm
Good to hear.
DAWGMAN
October 18th, 2011
12:20 pm
HE’S 6′8″…. I HOPE HE CAN DUNK
English
October 18th, 2011
12:23 pm
Looks good! I can’t wait to see him in Panther Blue.
j-gsu
October 18th, 2011
12:44 pm
Awesome news! Can’t wait to see what GSU basketball looks like in 3 years.
Panther08
October 18th, 2011
1:21 pm
OHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Good Job CRH! GoPanthers!
blazerdawg
October 18th, 2011
2:17 pm
Coach Hunter knows what he is doing and is building a top of CAA program. Looking forward to seeing GSU in the big dance.
Wonder who will get back to the dance first UGA, GIT, or GSU (either)? I expect it is likely to be the Panthers.
GSUMan
October 18th, 2011
2:53 pm
Recruiting violation?
Bulldawg Rick
October 18th, 2011
3:00 pm
Have seen this young man play many times.. Under control, & waits for his spots, good hands, can go coast to coast & is always ready on the trailer…
Played toe to toe with the POY last season, GAC’s Malcolm Brogdon, in 4 games…
Great pickup for the Panthers..
Congratulations to you TJ !!
Pride
October 18th, 2011
3:01 pm
Can he play the wide receiver position in football.
Just sayin
Pride
October 18th, 2011
3:30 pm
It’s not a recruiting violation if so UGA would be in violation with Aaron Murray recruiting Christian Green.
AgentOrange
October 18th, 2011
3:30 pm
Awesome…
AgentOrange
October 18th, 2011
3:36 pm
@BulldogRick
Thanks for the information!
KBP
October 18th, 2011
3:55 pm
TJ, I hope your coach encourages you to work on your skill. Freakish athleticism is soooo overrated in basketball. Hopefully you can dribble, shoot off the dribble, and finish at the basket strong with either hand. A few years ago, Joe Alexander was a freakish athlete with an unbelievable vertical leap and was a lottery pick. Two years later he was out of the league because he had very little basketball skill. Work on your game young man!
GSU
October 18th, 2011
4:00 pm
Good job RJ! Coach Hunter is rebuilding the program with guys that will play 4 years. Trying to rebuild with JUCO transfers has not worked. Good job coach.
tech.grad
October 18th, 2011
4:13 pm
GREAT—T.J…………….He is a good athlete–world class ???
itsmeagain
October 18th, 2011
6:14 pm
Really excited for this season. Just really wanna see the Sports Arena get renovated
Panther Cut: 2012 GSU Basketball Commit #4: Buford HS TJ Shipes | Panther Talk
October 18th, 2011
8:03 pm
[...] AJC Article on TJ’s Commitment [...]
tjhook
October 18th, 2011
10:25 pm
Hyperbole is overrated
STATEment
October 19th, 2011
7:48 pm
Hope all these recruits make it to campus. Have had high hopes before!
Panther News & Notes 10.20.11 | Panther Talk
October 20th, 2011
3:26 pm
[...] PF TJ Shipes from Buford High committed to GSU this week. He was recruited by Coach Ron Hunter’s son and GSU basketball commit RJ Hunter according to Michael Carvell of the AJC. [...]
John Wooden
October 23rd, 2011
8:56 pm
DawgMan—you would know, your world class players can dunk…but great comment on a player you’ve obviously never seen….GSU might be on to something that Tech nor GA seem to be able to get on to.
UNCLE CHUCK
October 24th, 2011
7:51 am
Great young man, wish him the best! ps much love
HoopsFan
October 26th, 2011
10:20 am
TJ is a good kid from a good family. He’s still a bit raw. When he fully develops, he will be a beast. Buford football must kick themselves seeing him walking the halls every day.