Tag: Curtis Givens

Elite shooting guard recruit includes LSU in top 7

LSU is in the mix for one of 2025’s top point guards.

Matt McMahon’s rebuild of LSU basketball is trending up after strides were made on the court and on the recruiting trail last year. The progress is continuing as LSU remains involved with several blue-chips in the 2025 class.

One of those names is four-star guard [autotag]King Grace[/autotag], who included LSU in his top seven. The news was reported by 247Sports and Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, SMU, TCU and Texas A&M joined LSU.

According to 247Sports, King is the eighth-ranked point guard in his class. All four major recruiting services rank King as a top-100 overall prospect and a top 10 player in the state of Texas.

The 2025 recruiting cycle has yet to heat up, but in the last cycle, McMahon signed the No. 13 overall class. With LSU in the mix for prospects like King, the Tigers could finish in the top 15 again. The 2024 class was headlined by blue-chip guards [autotag]Vyctorius Miller[/autotag] and [autotag]Curtis Givens[/autotag].

LSU struggled with guard play early in McMahon’s tenure, so it’s promising to see the backcourt depth being built up. It’s tough to make a tournament run without a bonafide floor general running the point.

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Montverde boys basketball completes undefeated season with win at Chipotle Nationals

Cooper Flagg and Montverde took down Paul VI to win the prestigious Chipotle Nationals and complete the undefeated season.

All season, Montverde boys basketball was, on paper, the best team in the league. Stacked with five-star talent, stopping the Eagles wasn’t as simple as stopping No. 1 2024 recruit Cooper Flagg β€” it was about stopping everyone.

The paper translated to the court. Nobody could stop the unit. The regular season came and went without a loss; the Eagles proved themselves once again in the prestigious Chipotle Nationals.

They took down Paul VI, ranked No. 4 in the Super 25, by a score of 79-63 to hoist the hardware and cap the undefeated, 34-0 season.

The offensive star today was Curtis Givens, who poured in 24 points off the bench. He made six 3-pointers and shot 7-for-11 from the field while adding three assists and three rebounds. A four-star LSU commit, Givens’ role of coming off the bench wasn’t because of his skill β€” it was a testament to that of the team, and his willingness to fulfill what the group needed most. His 26 minutes on Saturday were third-most on the team.

The most minutes went to Flagg, whose six blocks, one steal and eight offensive rebounds were as integral as his offensive performance. He had 16 points, but largely deferred on that end as he only attempted nine shots.

You can see in this short highlight clip that both a block and a steal from him led to immediate points:

Five-star Maryland commit Derik Queen, who won the McDonald’s MVP award last week, had a nice game, scoring 19 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

Paul VI was led once again by Darren Harris, whose superb Chipotle Nationals run came to a close with 16 points on inefficient shooting. He was electric in the opening rounds, but Montverde managed to hold him to just 5-for-14 shooting. It sealed a remarkable season for the Panthers, who went 35-3 and whose only losses were to Montverde (twice, including the championship) and Columbus (who fell to Montverde in the semifinals).

Montverde’s run of excellence sends its seniors out on a high note. The entire starting lineup was made up of five-star players, and with four-star Givens coming off the bench, they met β€” and perhaps exceeded β€” the immense expectations put upon them this year. The Eagles also set up a future run, with five-star sophomores Caleb Gaskins and Kayden Allen getting in on the action.

It’s Montverde’s seventh Chipotle (formerly GEICO) championship, and they’re hoping to be back next year for another run.
They join their sister Eagles as champions, who completed the three-peat earlier in the morning.

It’s a good day and a good year to be an Eagle.

Related: Montverde girls basketball three-peats as Chipotle Nationals champions

LSU makes top five for 2024 top 50 shooting guard

Slowly but surely, the 2024 recruiting class is coming together.

A top 50 player in the 2024 recruiting class has trimmed his final list of schools down to five, and the LSU Tigers made the cut.

[autotag]Vyctorius Miller[/autotag] is a 6-foot-5, 170-pound, four-star shooting guard from Irvine, California where he plays for Crean Lutheran High School. The Crean Lutheran Saints finished last season 23-8 with a loss to Mater Dei in the second round of the CIF Division 1 playoffs.

The Saints start their 2023 season on November 16th as they look to win a state championship this winter. Miller trimmed his final list of schools down to LSU, USC, Oregon, Gonzaga, and the NBA G-League Ignite.

Miller does not have any crystal ball projections at this time but LSU is an 88% favorite to land him per On3. [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] and the Tigers currently have two commitments for the 2024 class in four-star power forward [autotag]Robert Miller[/autotag] and four-star point guard [autotag]Curtis Givens[/autotag].

Slowly but surely, the 2024 recruiting class is coming together.

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Top 50 LSU point guard target sets commitment date

Curtis Givens will decide between his five finalists on Oct. 7.

LSU’s men’s basketball team picked up its first commitment in the 2024 recruiting cycle last month in four-star power forward [autotag]Robert Miller[/autotag], and it’s now looking to add another top-50 prospect in [autotag]Curtis Givens[/autotag].

Givens will make his college decision on Oct. 7 at 4 p.m. CT, according to On3’s Joe Tipton. He’ll choose between a group of five finalists that includes Memphis, Indiana, Texas and Georgia Tech, in addition to the Tigers.

The four-star point guard is originally from Memphis where he plays for national basketball powerhouse Montverde Academy. He ranks just outside the top 50 in industry composite rankings, but On3 has him as the No. 33 player in the nation.

β€œCoach Matt (McMahon) has a history of developing great guards,” Givens said per On3. “When he was at Murray State, they had Ja Morant, and they hadΒ Cameron Payne. He’s a point guard coach who puts the ball in his point guard’s hands and lets them control the tempo.”

Memphis is the heavy favorite to land the local prospect. The Tigers recently picked up a pair of Crystal Ball predictions from 247Sports, and they’re an 86.4% favorite, per On3.

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