Starting Five: Momentum change for Cisse, SEC's big year

The recruiting world is still waiting on a decision from 2020 five-star big man Moussa Cisse. Is there a new team to beat? With Alabama's four-star addition on Sunday, the SEC has had a banner 2020 recruiting class. All that and more in this week's Starting Five.

RIVALS ROUNDTABLE: Who has impressed at streaming events?

When five-star center Moussa Cisse reclassified from the class of 2021 to 2020 in late May, we immediately put the 6-foot-10 big man from Memphis (Tenn.) Lausanne on commitment watch. He also announced plans to decide in early June before backing off of that sped up timeline.

I, and pretty much the rest of the recruiting world, named LSU the heavy favorite to land the native of Guinea who spent his first few years of high school in New York City.

Over the past few days, though, several sources have indicated that Penny Hardaway and Memphis may have flipped things and are now the team to beat for the athletic shot blocker. I'm not saying that it is a done deal or that Will Wade and LSU can't still get him, but I've heard enough that I feel comfortable flipping my Futurecast for Cisse from LSU to Memphis and Rivals analyst Corey Evans has done the same.

Both of us continue to hear that a decision could be coming any day, but if the last month has shown us anything, nothing is for sure with Cisse.

On Sunday, Alabama pulled off a big score when they added another recently reclassified big man in Alex Tchikou. His addition allowed Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide's class to move into No. 9 in the 2020 team rankings. That means that six of the top 10 spots (and 10 of the top 34) are now held by programs from the SEC with Kentucky at No. 1, Tennessee at No. 5, Auburn at No. 6, LSU at No. 8 and Arkansas at No. 10.

Included among the players headed to those programs are seven five-stars and 19 four-stars. Basically, it is the type of recruiting excellence that we have come to expect from the SEC in football.

Obviously, John Calipari and Kentucky have been counted on to carry the league's torch on a yearly basis, but the rest of the league have stepped their game up. Rick Barnes has hauled in five-stars in back to back classes, Bruce Pearl has turned Auburn into a place with a ravenous hoops following, Will Wade continues to pick up big names at LSU and Eric Musselman made a big splash in year one by locking up a great class of in-state prospects for the Razorbacks.

Speaking of Alabama, look for them to become a trendy pick as a "sleeper" team for next season. Oats gives his players tremendous freedom and they should now have a deep roster with size, shooters, playmakers and new talent. There could be an adjustment period as several newcomers grow accustomed to playing with each other but things are definitely looking up in Tuscaloosa.

Speaking of LSU, news that signee Bradley Ezewiro would take a prep year and delay his arrival in Baton Rouge until 2021 was thought by many to be a sign that Cisse's commitment was imminent. While that may not be the case, a prep year could be good for both Ezewiro and the Tigers.

A native of Southern California who spent his senior season at Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill, Ezewiro is an impressive athlete. He's explosive, he's strong, he has good feet and strong hands. If he walked into Ed Orgeron's locker room, he would look right at home with the defending National Champion football program as he is built like a football player.

While Ezewiro has all of the physical tools, a year to develop his skill and feel for the game on the offensive end wouldn't be a bad thing. He can take the year to continue to reshape his body a bit and become a more consistently dominant rebounder.

Ezewiro hasn't yet announced which school he will attend for his prep year.

As I continue to search the net for streams of events, I spent a good portion of my weekend catching up on games from the Circuit League held at the Drive Nation facility near the DFW Airport.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, was more impressive to me than 2022's No. 9 ranked player Keyonte George of Drive Nation.

A 6-foot-5 combo guard, George has really filled out since I last saw him in person at Thanksgiving. Along with the increased strength, George has also gotten a little more explosive. When you add that on to a guy who is already well above average in the skill and creativity departments, you get a potentially scary dude.

Obviously this spring and summer are different and we aren't getting the usual looks at players we would in a normal grassroots season, but if somebody wanted to tell me that we have George under ranked at No. 9, well I wouldn't be mad at them because he definitely looked like a potential top five guy in his class.

Arkansas and Arizona offered on Saturday and as far as I'm concerned he should be a priority target for any program serious about landing an instant impact guy from the rising junior class. Prior to his latest offers, George had already landed offers from Baylor, California, Florida, Kansas, LSU, N.C. State, TCU, Texas and Texas A&M among others.

I have to admit that I didn't know a lot about Edmond (Okla.) Memorial's Sean Pedulla who hit the floor with Buddy Buckets in the Circuit League. Yes, I had seen him a bit and knew that he could shoot the ball. But, I didn't know he could shoot it like that.

A true gunslinger with deep range, Pedulla rates high on the skill and confidence charts. He sets guys up, uses screens, moves well away from the ball and almost always appears to be shot ready. Is he a true point guard? More of a natural shooting guard? That's perhaps a legit question, but what is unquestioned is his ability to stretch the floor and his desire to compete.

I'd really like to get another look at Pedulla in person and I'm sure colleges would too. I'd like to better gauge his size and his ability to move his feet on the defensive end but he's a guy that I'd be evaluating closely at the top end of the mid major into the high major range.

As a matter of fact, Pedulla landed pretty high level offers from Minnesota and Tulsa based off of his play in the event. Louisiana Tech, Samford, Texas State, Troy and Wofford have all offered as well.