It has been a long time since we have received a verbal commitment for the Gopher basketball team.  But according to GopherIllustarted Tubby Smith has been given a verbal from Torrance, CA native Justin Cobbs to join the Gophers next season.  This is the second commitment for Tubby Smith and staff.  Cobbs joins local SF-Royce White. 

Cobbs is a three-star point guard who had offers from Iowa, USC, Washington State, Colorado and others.  As a junior he averaged 17 points and eight assists per game and was his conference co-MVP.  Here is the ESPN Insider evaluation of Cobbs.

Cobbs is a quick and athletic guard that can get all the way to the rim in transition and has the ability to finish with either hand. He must improve the consistency of his jumper but he can get in the lane at will. He pushes the ball hard in transition mostly off the dribble and makes pretty good decisions both in the open and half court. An excellent passer that does a good job of looking to feed the post on a regular basis. He likes to attack going to his left to score in the lane. Cobbs is a good on ball defender and has the speed, quickness and size to defend both guard positions. This kid has great upside and could end up signing with a high major. Keep an eye on his progress.

In 2006 Cobbs was described by fullcourtpress.net as a, "Strong point with an impressive basketball IQ, Cobbs is one floor-leader that has a bright future."

For most of us, Cobbs came late on to the Minnesota radar and committed while Darius Smith was still trying to figure out where he wanted to go.  Cobbs appears to have good size, plays good defense and has the ability to beat his man off the dribble.  Before last week I had never heard of Cobbs so I'm learning as I go, but I will be sure to keep tabs of Cobbs and how his senior season plays out. 

To date Tubby has two commits for the 2009 class filling SF with one of the top players in the country in Royce White.  We have now secured depth at point guard with Cobbs.  It is expected that SG will be filled by the local four star, Rodney Williams and they are still looking hard for depth in the front court.  This is shaping up to be another great class by Tubby and the future the next few seasons of Gopher basketball shouuld be an absolute blast to watch.