-A very athletic kid, hops are described as "ridiculous"
-Outside jumper needs work, but the Salukis won't be asking him to shoot outside of his comfort zone anyway. However, his JUCO coach
Corey Tate recently told bnd.com "he's sharpened up a lot of skills he had as far as shooting the ball and running the floor, being more than a dunker."-He's been listed at various heights, but he's either 6-7 or a very solid 6-6
-Felton's defense in high school was not great, but he has the talent to be a plus defender if he buys in to Lowery's system.
-He transfered around all 3 Belleville area high schools (also played for Love-Joy as an 8th grader) so some might assume that he has attitude problems, this does not appear to be the case. Felton was described to me as a "yes sir, no sir" type kid.
It's difficult to recruit two strong classes in a row, because most kids don't want to come to SIU and sit on the bench or redshirt. After assembling a blue chip class in '08, recruiting the same caliber players two years in a row was going to be a challenge. That being said, Felton is exactly the type of player that Lowery needed to add to the '09 class. With Tony Boyle set to graduate, Felton has the talent and physical attributes to come in as a junior play a role off the bench.
The addition of Felton takes a lot of pressure off 6-8 recruit Jordan Meyers who profiles as a bit of a project. The Salukis should have the low post covered next season with senior Christian Cornelius, juniors Carlton Fay and Jeremy Felton, and sophomores Nick Evans and Anthony Booker.
To round out the '09 class the Salukis already have a verbal from PG Kendal Brown but could
still use a pure 3 point shooter to replace Josh Bone. Drew Barham a 6-6 shooting guard from Memphis, TN could fill that need (click here to watch video of Barham repeatedly knocking down open 3's). Southern will once again be in a recruiting battle with Miami-OH along with Stanford, Davidson, Belmont, St. Josephs, and Butler also vying for Barham's services.Update- Barham has given a verbal commitment to SIU.
Photo Credit- stltoday.com and rivals.com
