In addition to Phoebus product Dashawn Stitt, who verbally committed to Hampton in January, Joyner also has signed two players from Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem, N.C., which went 26-4 and finished the 2010-11 season ranked No. 1 in North Carolina and No. 25 in the country by MaxPreps.
The Pirates were originally focused on recruiting 6-foot-5 shooting guard Keron Brown, who averaged 14 points and six rebounds last season, Joyner said. Dwight Meikle, his 6-8 power forward/guard combo teammate who averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, verbally committed to St. John’s in November.
But when Meikle was released from that commitment last Wednesday, Joyner was waiting.
“You still recruit the kid,” Joyner said. “(Meikle) is proof that you never know what can happen. At the end of the day, when he and St. John’s parted, we were there.”
Meikle and Brown are part of a burgeoning basketball powerhouse at Quality, a small, state-funded charter school that has housed several top-rated talents. Quincy Miller, a highly rated 6-10 prospect who committed to Baylor, averaged 25.5 points and 12 rebounds at Quality last season before transferring, while Josiah Turner, a 6-3 guard and Arizona signee, played there this past season after transferring from Sacramento, Calif.
Fighting Pharaohs point guard Anthony Fields committed to Wake Forest in January.
