Birt commits to Tulsa

Tulsa received another class of 2015 basketball commitment when South Plains College guard Pat Birt chose the Golden Hurricane on Saturday.

The 6-foot-5 wing made an official visit to Tulsa this weekend, and his father, Mike, notified Rivals.com analyst Eric Bossi of the verbal pledge on Saturday evening.

Birt is a native of Plano, Texas, and originally signed with Illinois-Chicago of the Horizon League, making an immediate impact at UIC last season. He averaged 6.3 points and 1.7 rebounds per game in 29 appearances in 2013-14, shooting 41 percent from the field and just under 39 percent from beyond the arc. He started 15 games and was a Horizon League All-Freshman Team selection.

"Pat has improved tremendously during his first year of college basketball," UIC head coach Howard Moore said of Birt in March. "He has a very high ceiling in this league and I am happy for him that he is getting well-deserved recognition."

Birt had eight double-digit scoring games last season and is known as an excellent shooter. Aside from hitting almost 40 percent of his three-point attempts, he also shot 87 percent from the free throw line.

The 3-star prospect flew under the radar as a high school senior in the 2013 class. Before signing with UIC, he also held offers from Portland, New Hampshire, Sam Houston State and Abilene Christian. Auburn, Arkansas, Missouri and Florida Gulf Coast were also in contact.

Birt joins combo guard Sterling Taplin in Tulsa's 2015 recruiting class.