Recruiting News: Another D-I Transfer Joins Cornell

The Ithaca Journal broke the news of Cornell's newest transfer addition, Anthony Gatlin, a wiry 6'8" 180 lb. wing forward from Centenary College (Summit League--a.k.a. Mid Continent Conference). The following is from the Journal's Brian Delaney:

Cornell to add transfer from Centenary

Six-foot-eight combo forward Anthony Gatlin will transfer to Cornell in the fall and join Steve Donahue's men's basketball program, Gatlin confirmed today.

Gatlin, who hails from Pearland Texas, played two seasons at Centenary College in Shreveport, La., and has two seasons of playing eligibility remaining. Due to NCAA transfer guidelines, he must sit out the 2009-10 season, although he can practice with the team.

"I'm 6-8, I can shoot pretty good and I guess I can do a little bit of everything," he said. "I won't say I'm perfect at everything, but I can help in different areas. I can help in a lot of ways."

In 2008-09, Gatlin started 16 of 27 games and averaged 4.7 points and 2.6 rebounds over 18.0 minutes per game.

According to TexasHoops.com, Gatlin committed to Centenary during October 2006 after receiving recruitment attention from Holy Cross, Nicholls State, and Stephen F. Austin.

An excellent student, Gatlin was a member of Pearland (Texas) High School's National Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society, and graduated in the Top 5% of his class. He was also a first team All-District performer at Pearland.

When he was signed, Centenary's former head coach Rob Flaska commented, “Anthony has unlimited potential and will end up being an all-conference performer at Centenary. He is long, athletic, and has the ability to score inside or out, even to the three-point line. He is also a 4.0 student."

As a freshman during 2007-2008, Gatlin averaged 19.6 minutes per game, playing in all 31 Centenary games and starting 12. He was fifth on the team in scoring at 4.4 per game while averaging 2.4 rebounds per contest. He scored a then-career-high 13 points in the Gents 70-66 upset win over Texas Tech and pulled down a then career-best eight boards against IUPUI on Jan. 19, 2008.

Centenary experienced a head coaching change during April 2008.

As a sophomore, under a new coach, Gatlin broke into double figures in four games and earned substantial minutes against major Division I competition, including Mississippi State, Baylor, LSU, Kansas State, Texas Tech, and Missouri. An inside-outside forward, he averaged better than 38% beyond the three-point arc in both of his seasons at Centenary.