Sweet Seven Scoops: Bright Lights LoVett, Fultz Rising Up, & More…
Posted by Sean Moran on January 24th, 2015
Seven Sweet Scoops is a weekly column by Sean Moran, the RTC recruiting guru. Once a week he will bring you seven notes from the high-stakes world of college basketball recruiting. We also encourage you to check out his contributions at The Intentional Foul, dedicated to recruiting coverage and analysis. You can also follow Sean at his Twitter account @Seanmohoops for up-to-date news from the high school and college hoops scene. If you have any suggestions as to areas we are missing or different things you would like to see, please let us know at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.
Note: Scout.com used for all player rankings.
1. Bright Lights Hits Chicago
Chicago basketball fans have been spoiled over the last few years from watching Jabari Parker, Jahlil Okafor, Cliff Alexander, and Tyler Ulis play in the area. While there aren’t any future top five NBA Draft picks currently in the Windy City, senior guard Marcus LoVett has seized the opening and is becoming the big city’s hottest act. The 5’11” four-star guard has bounced around the past few years in both high school and AAU, averaging around 30 points per game as a freshman for Providence of Burbanks (CA) and becoming a YouTube sensation. Now a senior, LoVett is the point guard at Morgan Park, the back-to-back 3A state champion. He’s hit buzzer-beaters and scored 20+ points numerous times. Kansas offered him a scholarship in the fall when the buzz around him was starting to build, but other schools are showing interest as well. On Tuesday night, LoVett hit a game-winning jump shot in front of assistants from Florida State, Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh. He also took in an Illinois game over the weekend. Right now LoVett is ranked at just No. 91 overall, but with the buzz that is slowly building around him, it would not be a surprise to see him catapult up the rankings after his senior year.
2. Stock Riser: Markelle Fultz
Dematha Catholic (MD) High School sports one of the most prestigious basketball programs in the country, so it’s no surprise that the junior varsity team has a bunch of talented players. Last year, 6’4” guard Markelle Fultz was a sophomore playing on the JV team; one year later he is the star for the No. 1 team in the Washington D.C. area. The previously unranked Fultz jumped into ESPN’s top 60 for the junior class (No. 55 overall) and is now considered a four-star prospect who college coaches are extremely interested in. He scored a total of 53 points in two games at the famed Hoop Hall classic last weekend and has received scholarships from schools such as Arizona, Wake Forest, Georgetown, Maryland, and Washington, among others. It didn’t take long for Fultz to make a name for himself, but he has shown how quickly things can change.
