We'd been wondering when, precisely, Fran McCaffery was planning on using one of his open scholarships to help shore up the point guard situation. After all, Cully Payne looked to be the only scholarship 1-man (again), and that wasn't such a hot idea last season.
So while we privately reathed sighs of relief that Coco Ware (headed to Mississippi Valley State) and Anthony Salter (Hawaii-bound) took scholarship offers at inferior programs, at some point, McCaffery had to bring in someone.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have that someone. According to basically everybody (last link is $$), Bryce Cartwright committed to the Hawkeyes last night. Cartwright's a native of Compton, which will undoubtedly horrify the swear-we're-not-racists-buuut commenters at the Press-Citizen. He originally signed at Fresno State, then transferred to Paris Community College. Academics, as the story often goes, are a concern.
But the good news is that if McCaffery wants to run, Cartwright's going to fit in. There isn't much video of Cartwright, but what we do have...
...is probably enough to make Eric May fans (read: us) giggle like children.
No word yet on whether Cartwright will be able to join the team in time for the Prime Time League that's starting soon; we're guessing "no," with the quick turnaround time necessary to pull something like that off. The league drafts Wednesday and starts eight days later, so it's technically possible (if not plausible) that Cartwright shows up for it. And either way, as long as he puts together a couple years like Chauncey Leslie's were, this signing will be pretty much a success.
If, however, he gets into trouble--academic or otherwise--look out, because it's going to be Racist Christmas up in the newspaper comment threads.