The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Fruitful day for SIU basketball

At long last, SIU head coach Chris Lowery can break his silence.

On Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period, SIU men's basketball signed high school seniors Josh Tabb, Bryan Mullins, Jordan Armstrong and Nick Rogers.

All four had given oral commitments, most several months ago, but Lowery had been forced to muzzle his feeling toward arguably the best recruiting class in school history - until now.

"All of those kids excite me," Lowery said. "With each one of them, we got something different. As a total class itself, it is scary."

Experts agree. Brian Stinnette of Chicagohoops.com said he has not gone over everyone's recruiting class, and would not call SIU a top 25 recruiting class. But he did call it a "top 25 caliber" recruiting class.

"I will say this, SIU is going to turn a lot of heads on the basketball court," Stinnette said. "Over the next couple years, you are going to see SIU do some things."

The class is a consensus No. 1 in the Missouri Valley Conference, and Lowery's biggest signing could turn out to be Josh Tabb, who transferred to Carbondale High School for his senior season.

Tabb has been ranked in the top five of Illinois recruits, is considered the best recruit in the Missouri Valley Conference, and Lowery thinks very highly of him. The Saluki coach has known Tabb since eighth grade.

"Josh Tabb is obviously the big-name of all the recruits, the highest ranked," Lowery said.

"He is a kid who can run and jump and has really dominated on the high school level. What people don't realize is can really shoot to."

Tabb said he chose SIU on a "gut feeling," and was glad to finally see the ink dry on his commitment and make it permanent.

"I am glad to get it over with," said Tabb, who starts with the Carbondale Terriers Nov. 26 at a tournament in Champaign. "It has been stressful. I don't why, but it has been.

Tabb will have a terrific point guard to get him the ball in Mullins, who committed to SIU in late September. Mullins is said to be a proven winner and was almost as highly-touted as Tabb.

"Bryan Mullins rates among the top prospects, too," Stinnette said. "Any team in the Missouri Valley would have had a smile ear-to-ear if they had gotten Bryan Mullins.

"He is tough and hard-nosed. He is one of the best pure passers in the state."

Armstrong and Rogers round out a class that could make Lowery look like a genius for a long time, and has already earned him praise.

"Other people are saying it is one of the best recruiting class in school history," Lowery said.

SIU still has a fifth scholarship remaining, and had offered one to Brewster Academy forward Chris Cornelius. Cornelius was supposed to choose between SIU and Illinois State Tuesday, but never came to a decision.

Lowery said the fifth scholarship, made available after the departure of Ryan Walker, may have to wait until next year. But he is not ruling out the spring signing period, a time Lowery and then head coach Bruce Weber plucked LaMar Owen out of Southeastern Illinois College.

"We are going to probably and wait until next year," Lowery said. "But you never know." What is done with the fifth scholarship may not matter, though, if the Class of 2005 turns out to be as athletic as experts - along with Tabb - say it will be.

"Fans are going to be seeing the same thing from as they did from Darren and Stetson," Tabb said.

Zack Creglow contributed to this story