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Its official: Tinsley signs with Vanderbilt

NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings started his 2008 recruiting class with a bang, and ended it with another, as the program announced that highly touted 6-3 point guard Brad Tinsley has signed a VU National Letter of Intent. Tinsley is ranked number 94 in the Rivals.com database for 2008 prospects.
"We are extremely excited to add Brad Tinsley to our incoming freshmen class," said Stallings. "We have recruited Brad since early last summer and we were glad we had another chance at him once he reopened his recruitment. Brad is an outstanding player with the ability to play multiple guard positions. He is also an excellent young man who comes from a great family, something we value highly in our program."
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Tinsley joins what Rivals.com projects as one of the top 15 recruiting classes in America. Stallings also signed 6-7 wing Jeff Taylor last week, and inked two other 4-star prospects — 6-9 forward Steve Tchiengang and 6-7 wing Lance Goulbourne — last fall.
Tinsley originally signed with Pepperdine last fall but was released from his National Letter of Intent after the Waves made an unexpected coaching change. Tinsley averaged 24 points and seven assists per game and was named Oregon class 6A Co-Player of the Year.
The 6'3 guard chose Vanderbilt over Wake Forest, Oregon, and Arizona State. Tinsley made official visits to all four schools before picking the Commodores over the weekend.
The addition of Tinsley makes up for the loss of rising sophomore point guard Keegan Bell, who recently announced his decision to transfer from Vanderbilt. Bell has since signed with Tennessee-Chattanooga. Tinsley and rising junior Jermaine Beal are the only true point guards on next year's roster. Alex Gordon will graduate from VU this spring.
Taylor, on the other hand, is expected to step in at wing with the graduation of Shan Foster, who was named SEC Player of the Year this past season. Taylor and Lance Goulbourne will join junior two-guards George Drake and rising redshirt freshman Charles Hinkle as well as rising sophomore Andre Walker at the wing positions.
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