Mizzou Basketball announced the addition of one of the top players in the Class of 2014 on Wednesday as Jakeenan Gant (Springfield, Ga. / Effingham County), the top player in Georgia, signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball and attend the University of Missouri.
Gant (6-foot-8, 215 pounds) joins current Tiger freshman Johnathan Williams, III as consecutive Top 50 recruits to enter the Missouri program out of high school the last two seasons. He is ranked No. 47 nationally by Rivals.com, No. 48 by 247 Sports and No. 50 by ESPN.
“Jakeenan really fits our program in all aspects of his game and his approach,” Haith said. “He’s an outstanding young man from a great family and just has that competitive drive in everything he does. He was the top player in Georgia as a junior and will keep getting better and better as he matures and adds strength. He has the ability to step out and shoot the basketball on the perimeter, defend on all levels of the court and, as he adds that strength, his offensive post game will take that next step. Jakeenan can be a difference-making scorer and defender both on the wing and in the paint.”
The Georgia AAAAA Player of the Year as a junior, Gant averaged 17.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and nearly four blocked shots per game for Effingham Country last season. He led the Rebels to the AAAAA state semifinals and scored 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a semifinal loss to Gainesville (63-62). Effingham finished the year 27-5 and Gant was named the top player in the state for his efforts.
Effingham enters the 2013-14 season ranked No. 2 in Georgia Class AAAAA and Gant is ranked as the top player in Georgia.
“We are really excited to be adding a player of Jakeenan’s caliber to our program and we have started making a recruiting name in the Southeastern Conference footprint in a short period of time,” Haith said. “The fan support we have, the facilities and the academic track record at Missouri makes this a great place to continue your education. I am very excited about the future of our program, especially now that we have balanced out our recruiting classes.”
— MU Sports Information —