By MATT JESSEN-HOWARD
The few four-star prospects still uncommitted are in high demand.
That’s the case for Morgan Park (IL) point guard Marcus LoVett, who competed with the Las Vegas Prospects at Adidas Gauntlet in Indianapolis last weekend.
“It’s nice to get out and play and just take a break from other things,” Lovett told SNY.tv in an exclusive interview. “I’m just out here so I can continue to play the game that I love and get better at it. I’m not here to pick up interest from new schools.”
Dozens of interested coaches were watching, however.
The 5-foot-11 guard holds offers from DePaul, Illinois, Kansas, Memphis, Pitt, St. John’s, UC-Irvine, and Tennessee, among others. On April 18, he tweeted out his top eight schools in order: St. John’s, Memphis, Illinois, DePaul, Pitt, UC-Irvine, UNLV, and San Diego State. Last weekend, he told SNY.tv that five were recruiting him the hardest.
“I’d say that Illinois, DePaul, St. John’s, Pitt, and Memphis are probably the ones that I’m hearing from the most,” he said.
Illinois might be the school that he’s most familiar with. The Illini have seen him play dozens of times for Morgan Park and Mac Irvin Fire, and watched him again in Indianapolis.
“I really like Coach [John] Groce; he’s a great guy,” LoVett said. “I know I’d be comfortable there with the coaches and players. I like how I’d be used in their system. I’m comfortable there, so it would be a good fit.”
St. John’s is a program he’s also very familiar with, despite Chris Mullin just being hired as the Red Storm’s coach on April 1. Former coach Steve Lavin offered the consensus four-star back in November, and he and assistants made an effort to both watch and visit with Lovett during the high school season.
“I think Mullin was a good hire for them,” LoVett said. “He’s a Hall of Famer. To have someone in the Hall of Fame coach me, I just think that he could get me to where I want to be. He was a guard, too, and he could teach me a lot. He knows what it takes.”
LoVett is one of several targets for Mullin and his staff, who still have several rosters spots available to fill out the 2015-16 roster.
Lovett hopes to make a decision “fairly soon,” but also said that he won’t rush himself into a decision.
At the next level, Lovett reported that he’s looking for a team that “gets up and down” and will put the ball in his hands.
Photo: 247Sports.com
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