South Carolina guard Jordan Roper staying in-state

By Jason Hickman Jun 9, 2011, 2:56pm

Following state championship season at Irmo High School, point guard picks Clemson.

Clemson nabbed a commitment from in-state Class of 2012 Top 100 guard Jordan Roper on Thursday, a development confirmed by Irmo (Columbia, S.C.) assistant coach Nick Agnello.

"Jordan wanted to play in one of the major conferences and Clemson showed the most interest," Agnello said. "VCU was in his final two and I believe they ran out of scholarships, so that kind of made the decision easy for him."

As a junior, Roper averaged over 20 points, five rebounds and three assists for Irmo, which went 27-3 and captured South Carolina's Class AAAA state title. According to Agnello, the 6-foot, 170-pound point guard scored 16 of the team's 20 points during an eight-minute stretch in the state championship game.

"He is an explosive point guard and you really don't see much of that," Agnello said. "He plays above the rim but has a great mid-range game. He needs to work on his 3-point shooting, but that will come. He is the hardest worker that I've been around, always the first to get the gym and the last to leave."



Roper is rated No. 96 in MaxPreps.com's Class of 2012 Top 100. Tiger head coach Brad Brownell also has a 2012 verbal commitment from 6-6, 195-pound Georgia forward Jaron Blossomgame.