Are Tigers on verge of filling last spot?
The Memphis basketball team still has room to add to its 2019-20 roster.
And it could be on the verge of doing just that.
Isaiah Stokes, a Memphis native who has spent the past two seasons at Florida, was spotted on campus Tuesday on a visit with the Tigers.
The 6-foot-8, 270-pound Stokes, whose high school career began at Lausanne before he transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, redshirted at Florida in 2017-18 while recovering from a torn ACL. Last season, he averaged 2.7 points and 1.0 rebound per game in 26 appearances.
The Tigers still have one available scholarship for next season after landing the No. 1 recruiting class in the country this offseason. Stokes, the younger brother of former Tennessee ALL-SEC standout Jarnell Stokes, would claim that spot whether he has to sit out next season because of NCAA transfer rules or he receives a waiver to be eligible immediately.
Stokes previously played for Team Penny, the AAU program Hardaway ran before becoming the coach at Memphis, when he was in high school.
Stokes was also once a prized high school football recruit with reported offers from Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Memphis and Tennessee. But he reportedly struggled with conditioning issues over the past year. After suffering a knee injury in January of his senior year at IMG Academy, he arrived on campus at Florida in July just north of 310 pounds. He dropped 40 pounds in 2018.
John Martin of 92.9-FM reported Monday night that Stokes was in town visiting Memphis. Memphis is gearing up to play four games in five days in the Bahamas next week. The Tigers’ first game is set for 4 p.m. Wednesday, and they will wrap things up with a game that begins at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.