Tops get their three LOIs a day later

For WKU, it's better late than never.

As the majority of schools received letters of intent from their commitments on the first day of the early signing period yesterday, the Toppers waited. Though they had three commitments themselves, yesterday came and went without a letter.

Today, WKU announced that it received letters from all three of its commitments.

"If you know these kids at all, you know they're gonna be true to their word," coach Ken McDonald said. "It was just a matter of when they wanted to have their particular signing at their school. Each one of them called last night and was so excited to have Hilltopper gear on as they were signing. It's just, once again it goes back to, you do get nervous from a sense of, I've seen crazy things happen in the business, on signing day, but it wasn't one of those, lay thee hats out in front of you, then pick one kinda deal."

The biggest grab may be 6-foot-6 power forward William Green, of Olympia High School in Orlando, Fla. Rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, the 180-pound Green may be in the similar mold to a current Topper.

"He's really talented and he doesn't even know how good he can be some day," McDonald said. "He's thin, he's a little bit in the Jeremy Evans mold, of athleticism. He has a lot of upside, can really handle the ball, can shoot the ball and do some things at a high level. As he gets stronger and he matures with his body, I think he's got a chance to be a big-time player."

WKU also nabbed 6-foot-6 small forward Jordan Swing from Vestavia Hills High School in Alabama. A two-star recruit, the 200-pound Swing averaged 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists last season.

"Jordan has a combination of everything," McDonald said. "He can really shoot the ball, he's got great size for a wing player, has a savvy about him and a calmness about him. He really knows how to play and his dad was a great player."

The Toppers third new addition is 6-foot-4 point guard Caden Dickerson, from Argyle High School in Texas. At his height, Dickerson, who's also 185 pounds, may cause a few matchup problems.

"All three of these guys can play multiple positions, too," McDonald said. "Although Caden's a point guard, he's a big point guard. He can play the two, he can shoot the ball, he's a really tough kid and a good floor leader. For a guy his age, he's very vocal and that doesn't come around a whole lot. You learn to value that as a head coach and that's important, so he brings a true value to the team.

"This whole group, I'm excited about the character. They're serious basketball players and they're serious students, about their education. There's a lot of things that get our coaching staff excited and this group is a great start and it's a great job by the assistant coaches."

WKU still has two scholarships left to give, but McDonald said that he hopes to have one more possible signee in the next few days.

The Toppers open up their regular season on Saturday at Houston.

InsideHilltopperSports.com will also bring you updates on each of WKU's three additions as well as recruits on the Toppers' radar.

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