Travis Ford and the Saint Louis Billikens have continued their now multi-year recruiting hot streak, as 2019 three-star guard Gibson Jimerson has committed to the Billikens.
Jimerson, a 6’6 shooting guard from Richmond, NC, has good size for his position, but his most appealing trait is his shooting ability. The kid can flat out stroke it. He was one of the best shooters in the EYBL this summer. While playing for Boo Williams AAU, he shot 44.7 percent from behind the arc, converting 42 of his 94 attempts. The stats show him to be not just a high percentage shooter, but a type of volume shooter that the Billikens currently lack. After playing for St. Christopher’s in Richmond, Jimerson will spend his senior year playing at basketball powerhouse Monteverde Academy in Florida.
Jimerson is the third member of the class of 2019 to commit to the Billikens, after East St. Louis (IL) product Terrence Hargrove Jr., and St. Mary’s (MO) point guard Yuri Collins. Jimerson is the first class of 2019 commit that isn’t from the St. Louis area for the Billikens. All three have different and complimentary skillsets. Hargrove is an incredibly athletic 6’8 wing who can impact the game on both sides of the ball, Collins is a pure point guard who is one of the best passers in the class of 2019, and with Jimerson, Ford has now added a lights out shooter to the mix.
In addition to his shooting, Jimerson will fill another hole for any prospective tourney team: a candidate for the yearly all-name teams. In this respect, Gibson Jimerson will ably fill the roles that Jordair Jett and Grandy Glaze filled with such excellence during the Majerus years.
Jimerson committed after visting this past weekend during Saint Louis’ “Billiken Madness” event. That fact alone shows Ford’s impact on the program. I can’t remember the last time that a recruit has committed after such a preseason event for the Billikens and it shows how much Ford has done to modernize the program after the sputtering end of the Jim Crews era. Check out some of Jimerson’s junior year highlights below.