Smith-Rivera off the board to Georgetown

Top 100 guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera of Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) made a verbal commitment Saturday to Georgetown during an announcement ceremony in his hometown of Indianapolis.

Smith-Rivera is in his first season at Oak Hill after starring at North Central High School (Indianapolis) for three years. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior earned city player of the year honors as a junior after posting 25.1 points per game and leading the Panthers to a 22-3 record. He helped the school win a Class 4A state title as a sophomore.

Ranked No. 38 in the MaxPreps Class of 2012 Top 100, Smith-Rivera originally committed to Xavier last October but re-opened his recruitment just two months later. He chose the Hoyas over Louisville, Memphis and North Carolina State.

Smith-Rivera is the second verbal commitment in the 2012 class for Georgetown coach John Thompson III, joining forward Brandon Bolden of Quality Education Academy (Winston-Salem, N.C.). He should be in line for immediate playing time with the program as the Hoyas have just four guards on their 2011-12 roster. The best of the bunch is senior Jason Clark, who is a senior.

Pair of Top 100 bigs pop

Smith-Rivera's commitment isn't the only big recruiting news regarding Class of 2012 Top 100 prospects. A pair of big men made pledges to major conference programs Friday.

A.J. Hammons, a teammate of Smith-Rivera's at Oak Hill Academy, committed to Purdue. Hammons is a Hoosier State native who attended Carmel (Ind.) until departing for Virginia prior to his junior season. The 6-10, 275-pound senior is ranked No. 97 among senior prospects nationally.

Hammons joins a 2012 Purdue recruiting class that includes guard Ronnie Johnson of Indianapolis (a former teammate of Smith-Rivera's at North Central, ironically) and La Lumiere (LaPorte, Ind.) teammates Jay Simpson and Raphael Davis.

Prince Ibeh, a 6-11, 230-pound center from Naaman Forest (Garland, Texas), announced plans to remain in the Lone Star State with the Texas Longhorns. Ibeh posted modest scoring numbers as a junior (6.4 points per game) but excels as a rebounder and shotblocker (9.3 rebounds, 5.2 blocked shots per game).

Texas' 2012 class features plenty of size with Ibeh joining 6-10 five-star center Cameron Ridley and 6-9 San Antonio forward/center Connor Lammert. New Orleans point guard Javan Felix – another Top 100 senior – has also pledged the Longhorns.