Ratliffe, Pressey Ink With Mizzou
4/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
April 14, 2010
Columbia, Mo. - Missouri Basketball has won 54 games over the past two seasons and the future continues to be bright for Head Coach Mike Anderson's Tigers. Anderson announced today that he has signed a pair of first team National Junior College All-Americans (NJCAA) to his squad for the 2010-11 campaign, as the nation's #1 ranked JUCO performer, Ricardo Ratliffe (Hampton, Va. / Central Florida CC), and versatile guard Matt Pressey (Dallas, Texas / Navarro College) have inked to play for the Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball.
"We were able to address our needs in this class," Head Coach Mike Anderson said. "To be able to bring in two junior college All-Americans in the late signing period is huge for our program. I really appreciate the job done by Melvin Watkins, Matt Zimmerman, T.J. Cleveland, Jeff Daniels and our entire staff. It's a great time to be a Tiger."
Ratliffe (6-foot-8, 240 pounds) joins Missouri after a record-breaking junior college tenure that saw him set career and single-season scoring records at Central Florida Community College in Ocala, Fla. The athletic forward averaged 27.4 points and 11.3 rebounds as a sophomore en route to first team All-NJCAA All-America recognition. The Hampton, Va., native scored 855 total points as a sophomore, the most ever at the school. That scoring total broke the previous record of 798 points, which Ratliffe originally set during his freshman season of 2008-09.
"We certainly addressed a big need with the signing of Ricardo, the top junior college player in the country," Anderson said. "He gives us a post presence with the ability to step out and knock down shots. He is a physical player that rebounds and plays the game with passion and energy. We have lost some tremendous players in our front court the last couple of years, but Ricardo fits in that mold. He is a very good scorer and I have been impressed with his overall skill level since we began recruiting him. With that being said, Ricardo is a great young man that Tiger fans will enjoy getting to know. He just fits very well with our program and has a chance to make a big impact here in Columbia."
For his career the 6-foot-8 forward scored 1,653 points in two seasons and was twice named a first team NJCAA All-America squad member. One of just 13 players ever to be named a first team All-American twice in their JUCO career, Ratliffe logged norms of 26.8 points and 11 rebounds in 2009 as a freshman for the Patriots.
Ranked the nation's #1 junior college recruit by Rivals.com, Ratliffe was multi-dimensional for CFC, shooting a team-best 63.4 percent for the 26-7 Patriots this past season. He also connected on 26 three-pointers and blocked 1.1 shots per game. He was named the Florida Community College Activities Association Player of the Year as well as the Mid-Florida Conference Player of the Year in 2010 to complete a tremendous two-year run.
Pressey (6-foot-3, 190 pounds) joined Ratliffe on the NJCAA All-America first team after leading Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas, to a 30-7 mark and a fourth place finish in the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. Pressey was spectacular throughout the Runnin' Bulldogs' postseason run earning All-Tournament Team honors and finishing with season averages of 17.5 points and 4.2 rebounds. Pressey twice helped Navarro reach Hutchinson and finished his career averaging 14.2 points per game.
"Matt is someone I have known for most of his life and he's really grown into becoming an outstanding person and a tremendous basketball player. Players like Matt have been tremendously important to our success. He is defensively savvy, he can score, he rebounds for his size and he has some of the same traits as a Zaire Taylor. One thing about Matt, he plays to win and most importantly, he is a young man of high character. He comes from a first-class family. I feel like Matt is going to thrive in our system and we are certainly glad he'll join us here at Mizzou."
The older brother of Tiger signee Phil Pressey, the elder Pressey gives Missouri a big, versatile guard that averaged 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game in 2010. He was also able to score in bunches for Navarro, scoring a career high 32 points vs. Lee College on Feb. 6, while reaching double figures in 33 of 37 games, including 16 games of 20+ points.
Pressey is the son of former NBA All-Star Paul Pressey, who is currently an assistant coach with the New Orleans Hornets and along with Phil Pressey will be the first brother tandem to play at Mizzou since Simeon and Sammy Haley (1994-96).
The signings of Ratliffe and Pressey add to Missouri's impressive recruiting haul. The Tigers already boasted one of the nation's premiere recruiting classes from the early signing period, with USA Today ranking Missouri's class #7, ESPN ranking it #11 and Rivals.com ranking it #12 following the singings of Kadeem Green (Toronto, Ontario / United Faith Christian Academy), Ricky Kreklow (Columbia, Mo. / Rock Bridge), Tony Mitchell (Dallas, Texas / Pinkston) and Phil Pressey (Dallas, Texas / Episcopal School of Dallas).
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