Georgia State basketball opens the doors to the 2016 recruiting class today with two highly coveted prospects in 247Sports composite four star guard D'Marcus Simonds and three star power forward Chris Clerkley.

Four star guard D'Marcus Simonds signs his letter of intent at a ceremony at Gainesville High School.

For most in this part of the country, national signing day is the first Wednesday in February but to every sport other than football, the early signing period begins in November.

As we do every year, we repeat one of favorite quotes - "The time has come for the parade of the committed to officially bind themselves to the university."

The Process

These prospects will fax their National Letters of Intents in and then it is reviewed by Compliance and then announced publicly.

8:45am Update: Four star guard D'Marcus Simonds has signed his letter of intent...

247Sports National Director of Basketball Scouting Jerry Meyer's thoughts on Simonds:

Simonds is an athletic slasher and strong finisher. He is also a tough rebounder. His shooting range is limited, though and he does need to improve his overall ball handling. Saw him in Dallas. Great get and good player.

Our thoughts: Simonds is a 6'4, 180lbs explosive high volume scorer who becomes the highest rated player to commit to the Panthers out of high school. He averaged more than 22 points per game as a Junior and is also explosive off the dribble.

D'Marcus is already physically impressive as a 17 year old and has been compared favorably to a young Dwyane Wade, who like Simonds, chose to stay close to home and sign with a mid-major program.

Simonds Commit Article

Power Foward Chris Clerkley puts pen to paper and signs his letter of intent at Perry High School.

1:45pm Update: Three star Power Forward Chris Clerkley has signed his LOI...

Our thoughts Clerkley is a 6'9, 210lbs power forward prospect and widely considered as a Top 30 player in the state of Georgia. He has tremendous upside and very good athleticism for a big man. Chris has a soft touch around the basket and is very long with a wingspan of nearly 7'0. A very long, self described stretch four, he has the ability to go inside and out and has range to the college three point line.

Chris reported offers from Mississippi State, Florida Atlantic and Stetson and had interest from Georgia, Georgia Tech and UAB.

Clerkley Commit Article

Clerkley Commit Q&A (VIP)

That's a wrap for this year's basketball signing day. Georgia State will have two scholarships remaining for the 2016 cycle.