Tag: 2024 basketball recruiting

Gators land in top 10 for elite shooting guard

Four-star shooting guard VJ Edgecombe has narrowed things down to 10 college programs, and the Florida Gators made the cut.

Long Island Lutheran (New York) shooting guard [autotag]VJ Edgecombe[/autotag] is one of the top names on Florida’s 2024 recruiting board, and Todd Golden’s staff secured the Gators a spot in his top 10 on Sunday.

Edgecombe, a native of Nassau, tweeted that he’d be deciding among Florida, Alabama, Baylor, Connecticut, Duke, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Saint John’s and the NBA G-League Ignite team, which was created for top NBA draft prospects to compete outside the traditional NBA G-League format.

Looking at Edgecombe’s summer highlights, it’s clear that he’s often the best player on the court. Attacking the rim isn’t a problem, especially when he gets a good screen from a teammate.

He explodes off the ground after taking his second step and can put others on a poster at 6-foot-5 inches tall. His three-point shot looks more comfortable from the right side of the break.

Edgecombe is a four-star recruit everywhere but ESPN, where he is a five-star prospect ranked No. 7 overall in the class of 2024. The On3 industry ranking, which uses a weighted average of all four major services, places him at No. 17 overall on the national ranking and No. 4 among shooting guards in his class. He’s also ranked the third-best player from New York.

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Tigers make the cut for 4-star California shooting guard

Mikey Lewis will take an official visit to LSU on Sept. 23.

LSU coach Matt McMahon is still looking to land his first pledge in the 2024 recruiting class, but the Tigers are in contention for several top prospects.

One of them — four-star Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep shooting guard [autotag]Mikey Lewis[/autotag] — has trimmed his list down to six schools, and LSU made the cut. Joining the Tigers in Lewis’ top six are Saint Mary’s, Illinois, Kansas, Ole Miss and San Diego State.

He’s already taken one official visit already with the Gaels, and he has trips set with the Fighting Illini and Tigers on Sept. 16 and 23, respectively. Saint Mary’s leads the way on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, though the gap has narrowed with Illinois and LSU closing in.

The Tigers will have to wait a bit to get him on campus, but they’ll hope to make that trip worthwhile with the No. 62 player in the 2024 class.

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LSU makes the cut for top-60 power forward prospect

The Tigers are still looking for their first commitment in the 2024 class.

LSU is still searching for the first commitment in its 2024 basketball recruiting class, but coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] has the Tigers in the mix for a number of top prospects.

One of them is four-star Carrolton (Tex.) Newman Smith power forward [autotag]Nic Codie[/autotag], who ranks as the No. 55 player nationally according to both 247Sports and On3. Codie recently trimmed his list of programs down to seven, and LSU made the cut.

Also included in that group are Auburn, Houston, Miami, TCU, Texas and Virginia Tech.

The 6-foot-8 prospect has already taken official visits to Houston and TCU, while Texas hosted him unofficially. The Cougars are a slim favorite followed by the Horned Frogs and Longhorns.

LSU has some work to do here, but Codie would be an incredible pickup for this class. The Tigers will hope to get him on campus before he makes a decision.

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LSU makes final 8 for top 25 basketball prospect

Matt McMahon has been working hard on the recruiting trail for the 2024 class.

Matt McMahon has been working hard on the recruiting trail for the 2024 class. He has the Tigers in a good position to battle for some of the best prospects in the country as LSU has made the final eight schools for four-star small forward [autotag]Annor Boateng[/autotag] from Arkansas.

Boateng is a 6-foot-5, 205-pound, four-star small forward from Little Rock, Arkansas, where he plays for Little Rock Central High School. As you can imagine, in-state Arkansas is currently the favorite to land him at 44% per On3.

LSU made the list along with Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio State and Virginia Tech. The Tigers do not currently have any commitments for the 2024 class but the coaching staff has been on the road all summer checking out the top talent in the country and dishing out offers to the best of the best.

Boateng is the 13th small forward the Tigers have offered in this cycle.

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Top-100 LSU basketball target close to setting visit schedule

Matt McMahon is still looking for his first commitment in the 2024 class.

LSU men’s basketball coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] is still looking for the first commitment in the Tigers’ 2024 recruiting class, but the staff is in the mix for a number of talented players.

One of those is Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep combo guard [autotag]Mikey Lewis[/autotag]. He ranks as the No. 61 player nationally in the 2024 class, and though he hasn’t started taking official visits yet, he told On3 that he is close.

According to Lewis, the schools that have been recruiting him the hardest in addition to LSU are Illinois, San Diego State, Syracuse and St. Mary’s. He also recently picked up offers from Washington, Ole Miss and Kansas.

Lewis praised McMahon to On3 and said that his development of now-Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant gives LSU a lot of credibility.

In-state St. Mary’s is the heavy favorite here per the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, but the Tigers will hope to get him on campus and make up some ground before he makes a decision.

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LSU makes the final 6 for 2024 four-star power forward

The Tigers have made the final six for Robert Miller III.

[autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] is working on a really strong recruiting class for 2024. After making the final eight for a four-star small forward earlier, the Tigers have now made the final six for a four-star power forward from Houston.

[autotag]Robert Miller III[/autotag] is a 6-foot-10, 225-pound, four-star power forward that is ranked as high as the No. 33 overall prospect in the country by On3. He plays for Pasadena Memorial High School. The Pasadena Memorial Mustangs finished the 2022 season 23-12 with a loss to Summer Creek in the 6A Region 3 and 4 tournament.

LSU made the final six list along with Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, Colorado and Oklahoma. So, Miller is down to five SEC schools and Colorado. LSU currently does not have any commitments for the class of 2024 but they do have multiple offers to top-ranked players.

There are no crystal ball projections for Miller at this time but Texas is a 93% favorite to land him per On3.

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LSU makes final eight for 2024 top-50 prospect

Matt McMahon has the Tigers in the running for one of the best players in the country in small forward Jalen Shelley.

[autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] is working on the 2024 recruiting class for LSU. He has the Tigers in the running for one of the best players in the country as LSU has made the final eight for a four-star small forward.

[autotag]Jalen Shelley[/autotag] is a 6-foot-8, 175-pound, four-star small forward that is ranked as a top 50 player in the 2024 recruiting class. Shelley is from Branson, Missouri, where he plays for Link Academy. The Link Academy Lions finished the 2022 season 27-1 with their only loss coming to nationally ranked Montverde Academy out of Florida.

The Lions played in the Geico Nationals where they went 3-0 and won the championship. LSU currently does not have any commits for the 2024 recruiting class. The Tigers are in the running for multiple prospects but aren’t considered the favorite for any of them yet.

LSU is joined by Louisville, Marquette, Houston, Colorado, Ohio State, Texas A&M, and Arkansas in the final eight.

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LSU offers No. 1 point guard in Kentucky

Perry currently has a Crystal Ball projection to Kentucky but, Ole Miss is a 37% favorite to land him per On3.

[autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] and the LSU coaching staff made a trip to John Calapari’s backyard to try to take the No. 1 point guard out of the state of Kentucky.

[autotag]Travis Perry[/autotag] is a 6-foot-2, 170-pound, four-star point guard from Eddyville, Kentucky, where he plays for Lyon County High School. The Lyon County Lyons finished the 2022 season 31-6 with a loss to George Rogers Clark in the Sweet 16 of the KHSAA state playoffs.

Perry currently has a Crystal Ball projection to Kentucky but, Ole Miss is a 37% favorite to land him per On3.

LSU currently does not have any commits for the 2024 recruiting class.

Gators lose commitment from top-30 basketball recruit

Todd Golden and the Florida Gators men’s basketball team just lost a major piece of the 2024 recruiting class, but is there any hope to bring him back in the fold?

It took less than three weeks for four-star center [autotag]John Bol[/autotag] to go from “10000% committed” to back on the open market. The now-former Florida commit backed off his verbal pledge to the Gators on Friday, according to a social media post from Chris Wash of Level 13 Sports Market and Management.

“My client 2024 John Bol (@JohnBol_7) 7’2 C Ranked #23 in the country has decommitted from Florida and will re-open his recruitment,” Wash tweeted with two exclamation marks.

The loss leaves Florida with just one player committed in the 2024 class, Orlando Christian Prep shooting guard Isaiah Brown, and moves the Gators down to No. 31 overall on the On3 team rankings.

An agent breaking the news has many believing that Florida lost Bol due to NIL opportunities elsewhere that he may not have considered. Bol was looking at joining the Overtime Elite League before his commitment, and the OEL has produced two top-five since then.

Wherever Bol ends up, he has the potential to be among the top big men in the country. At 7-foot-1-inch, he has the height to dominate the college game, and many scouts think he’s showing NBA potential.

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Florida basketball staying close with nearby 4-star power forward

One of the top basketball recruits in the class of 2024, power forward Ryan Jones, plays locally and is getting closer with Florida’s coaching staff.

The Rock School (Gainesville, Florida) power forward [autotag]Ryan Jones[/autotag] made another stop by the Swamp earlier this month and left impressed by Todd Golden’s coaching staff, according to Gators Online.

“Every time I go, I feel more comfortable since the new coaching staff came there,” Jones said. “It was just all-around great. They treated me like I’m already on the team. Great coaches.”

Associate coach Carlin Hartman has been Jones’ lead recruiter at UF. His son plays at The Rock School as well, which forms a second natural connection to the program — the first being proximity. The goal is to commit by the early signing period in November, and Jones is prepared to move into the official visit phase of his recruitment.

Florida is set to host him on Sept. 16, but LSU will get him a week after that. Earlier trips to Xavier on Aug. 3 and Virginia Tech on Sept. 2 are also on the schedule. Jones isn’t closing the door on adding more schools to the list, but those are the four he’s looking at the closest right now.

Jones is a good student (3.9 GPA) looking to further his education and find a mentor while going to school for basketball. Florida is one of the best public universities in the country, and Hartman is standing out as a coaching connection early.

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