5-star center Moussa Cisse commits to Memphis
Five-star center Moussa Cisse committed to Memphis' 2020 class, he told ESPN's Jonathan Givony on Wednesday.
Cisse, who spent the past year at Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, also received offers from Kentucky, LSU, Florida State, Georgia, and Georgetown.
Cisse ranks 24th among recruits on the ESPN 100 for 2020. He cited Tigers head coach Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway as a key factor in his decision.
"Coach Penny Hardaway is a legend and can help me develop my game and take it to the next level," he told Givony. "He has a lot of influence in the league.
"I've been in Memphis for a year now and everyone is telling me to stay. With all this stuff we're facing with the pandemic, I didn't get to go visit any other schools except Florida State. I'm getting a lot of love from the fans."
The Guinea native says his goal is to enter the NBA and admits he's "working on being one and done."
Other highly touted recruits already announced their college commitments for next season, but Cisse says he delayed his official decision out of consideration for the Black Lives Matter movement.
"I was given a chance to come to this country to better my education," he said. "As a person of color, I thought it would have been disrespectful to announce my college commitment while everything was going on. This also gave me more time to figure things out."
Cisse reclassified from the 2021 class in May.