Mizzou officially lands four-star Texas point guard C.J. Roberts

Missouri signed one player Wednesday, point guard C.J. Roberts, as the NCAA early signing period for men’s basketball opened.

Roberts, a point guard from Richland High in North Richland Hills, Texas, who averaged 22.5 points as a junior last season, is ranked as the No. 96 recruit in the country by Rivals.

He’s a 6-foot, 180-pound four-star prospect, who displays a good handle and a knack for getting to the rim. Roberts also shoots well enough from three-point range and in the mid-range to play off the ball or in tandem with another point guard on the floor. He shot 52 percent from the field last season, scored 20 or more in 13 games and toped 30 points three times with a career-high of 39.

“It’s really special to have C.J. join our Mizzou basketball family,” third-year MU coach Kim Anderson said in a release. “C.J. has game-changing ability and is a high-level scorer from the combo guard position. He comes from an outstanding family and basketball program in Richland, Texas, where he has been a standout on the court and in the classroom. We look forward to him getting to Columbia for next season and becoming a part of our program.”

Richland has made the Texas 6A state playoffs in both of Roberts’ two seasons on the varsity roster.

Roberts, whose given first name is Craig Jr., averaged 14.8 points as a sophomore for a Rebels team that finished 23-9.

“Mizzou is such a great fit for my family and me,” Roberts said in a release from Mizzou athletics. “We all feel so comfortable with the coaching staff, the players there and what the school can offer me. The coaching staff is an outstanding group of guys, on and off the court. I can tell they are knowledgeable about basketball, but everything else too. Coach Anderson wants to prepare you for life and what happens when the basketball stops bouncing.”

Roberts will join a backcourt that includes Terrence Phillips and Jordan Geist along with Cullen VanLeer and Frankie Hughes, a pair of shooting guards with the ability to man the point in a pinch.

Roberts also visited Georgia and had offers from Baylor, Illinois, Kansas State, LSU, Purdue, Rutgers, SMU, USC and Virginia Tech, according to Rivals.

The Tigers, who forfeited a scholarship last season and this season as part of self-imposed sanctions the program announced last January stemming from an investigation into NCAA rules violations, have only one senior on the roster.

That leaves Mizzou, which opens the season at 7 p.m. Sunday against Alabama A&M at Mizzou Arena, will one more available scholarship for the 2017 recruiting class, barring additional roster attrition.

▪ The Mizzou women’s team signed three players Wednesday: Elle Brown, a 5-foot-11 guard from Columbia Rock Bridge who is the daughter of former Mizzou track and field All-American and U.S. Olympian Natasha Brown and assistant athletic director for the Mizzou Made program Brian Brown, 5-9 guard Nadia Green of Homewood, Ill., and 5-9 guard Kelsey Winfrey of Lebanon, Mo.

This story was originally published November 9, 2016 at 12:41 PM with the headline "Mizzou officially lands four-star Texas point guard C.J. Roberts."