Men's Basketball | 11/10/2016 12:43:00 PM

STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern men's basketball coach Mark Byington announced today that Tyshaun Crawford (Griffin, Ga./Griffin) and has signed a National Letters of Intent to attend Georgia Southern and compete for the Eagles, beginning in 2017.

A 7-foot-1, 270-pound center Crawford averaged 10 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots a game as a junior at Griffin High School and was named first-team all-region. He collected 14 points, 10 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots a game for Team Forrest on the AAU circuit last summer. Crawford's high school coach, Willie Reese, and AAU coach, James Forrest, both played four seasons at Georgia Tech for legendary coach Bobby Cremins.

"I'm ecstatic to have Tyshaun join our Georgia Southern family and the basketball program," said Byington. "He is a tremendous young man, who has been raised in a great home by his mom, Alica Best and his stepfather, Cassius Best. Tyshaun has very good hands and will give us a big presence inside and be a defensive force with his shot blocking. He has great size and length, and my favorite part is his passion to learn and improve. He has outstanding coaches in Willie and James, who are doing a great job of teaching him and helping him develop, and I am so impressed with his progression. He just turned 17 years old in August, so his future is extremely bright, and he will continue to improve."

Georgia Southern opens the 2016-17 season at NC State Friday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game can be seen live on ACC Extra, WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.

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