Five-star guard ends the suspense

The suspense is finally over. Saturday night at Martinique Elegant Boutique in Burbank, Ill., Derrick Rose announced he will play his college basketball at Memphis. Rose, ranked No. 3 by Rivals.com, selected the Tigers over Indiana and Illinois.

After making his decision public, Rose said he loved the environment at Memphis along with the coaches and players. Since the spring, Memphis has been rumored to be Rose's favorite.

"One of the things that I liked about Memphis is the style that they play," Rose said. "They got the type of players I need to play my style of game."

When Rose visited Memphis, he said the current players already made him feel like part of the team and made him feel like they needed him. He also liked the fact that Memphis head coach John Calipari likes good guard play and told him that he could start right away.

The 6-foot-4, 194 point guard from Simeon High School in Chicago said he didn't sleep well last night leading up to this evening's announcement and even Indiana commitment Eric Gordon was making a last minute push for Rose to join him in Bloomington. Rose said Gordon was calling him hours before the news conference, but he didn't even want to pick up the phone to break the news that he was going elsewhere.

As a junior last year, Rose led his squad to the Illinois state title. Along the way he averaged 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists per game.

Recently Rivals.com named Rose as the guy with the most speed in the Class of 2007.

In addition to his announcement, two of Rose's teammates also made their college selections tonight as Tim Flowers and Kevin Johnson both chose to play college basketball at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Derrick Rose scouting report:

Rose's ability to create scoring opportunities, his willingness to share the ball and his capability of taking over a game with his scoring during crunch time make it clear that the top priority for Rose is winning. Skill wise, he has lightning speed and power with the ball, he gets into the lane with ease and he is a very good rebounder. His outside shot, although reliable, is the weaker part of his game, but expect it to become more consistent over time.