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CBT’s Recruiting Roundup: Virginia Tech’s big recruit, Elijah Thomas could be key to big class, Marcus Lovett’s emergence

Buzz Williams

Buzz Williams

AP

Buzz Williams

Buzz Williams

AP

Each Monday and Friday, College Basketball Talk’s Scott Phillips goes over some important news and notes in the world of college basketball recruiting. This week, Buzz Williams gets a big one at Virginia Tech, Elijah Thomas could mean a big class for the program recruiting him and the re-emergence of Marcus LoVett.

Virginia Tech lands a big 2015 recruit

Buzz Williams used to land some high-end talent at Marquette, but when he took the Virginia Tech job this spring, people wondered if that recruiting momentum would continue at his new stop.

The Hokies were able to close with some prospects in the 2014 class because of Williams’ previous recruiting efforts at Marquette, but the 2015 class got a huge boost this weekend when 6-foot-8 forward Kerry Blackshear committed to Virginia Tech.

The three-star native of Florida was low-key on the grassroots circuit, but Williams and his staff did a great job identifying Blackshear’s talent in the post and landing him over a strong contender in SMU.

A native of Orlando, Blackshear is Virginia Tech’s first commitment in the 2015 class. This commitment shows that Williams can land some key players in big recruiting battles at his new stop and Virginia Tech fans are hoping he can take them to the top of the ACC.

Elijah Thomas is a major recruit for 2015 team rankings

Many five-star prospects are still left in the 2015 class, but 6-foot-9 big man Elijah Thomas is taking all five official visits and could be a major impact recruit for eventual team recruiting rankings.

The thing with the No. 20 overall prospect in Thomas is, he can give Illinois, LSU, Oklahoma State or Texas A&M -- his official host for the weekend -- a talented class of that features balanced players on the inside and outside.

Illinois already has three four-star perimeter threats in Jalen Coleman, Aaron Jordan and D.J. Williams, LSU has No. 1 prospect Ben Simmons, Oklahoma State has premier four-star point guard Jawun Evans and Texas A&M has members Tyler Davis and D.J. Hogg.

Adding Thomas to any of those classes adds an additional inside threat to go with perimeter passers or scorers in all four classes. SMU also has point guard Sedrick Barefield, but needs to add more to the class to compare to the other four potential top-10 classes.

Either way, Thomas is almost through all five visits and might be one of the biggest commitments left in the fall, since many five-star prospects will wait until next spring.

The re-emergence of Marcus LoVett

Four-star point guard Marcus LoVett didn’t change anything other than his address, but the talented and entertaining lefty is generating a lot of buzz in his new city of Chicago.

Local scouts, college coaches and the Morgan Park coaching staff is all raving about the new Morgan Park High School Class of 2015 point guard and Kansas recently offered LoVett a scholarship and will have him on an unofficial visit this weekend, according to Cavan Walsh.

LoVett is a four-star prospect and No. 90 overall prospect, but he’s talented enough to rise in the rankings if he plays with more consistency and efficiency. Transferring to a two-time reigning state champion like Morgan Park in the talented Chicago Public League should help LoVett’s recruiting stock and overall play this season.

With a lack of elite talent in point guards in 2015, LoVett could have some interesting schools checking out his games in the next few months.

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