Virginia Basketball Recruit Noah Locke’s Final 8 Includes UVA

Fans eagerly waiting for Virginia basketball recruiting news received some good news Tuesday night. 2018 guard Noah Locke announced his top eight schools via Twitter and the Hoos made the list. Other schools in the final eight include Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, Providence, and Xavier.

Locke currently holds the No. 76 spot in the 2018 class per 247Sports’ composite ranking. Individual rankings for Locke vary from No. 36 for Scout, No. 67 for 247, No. 75 for Rivals (4 star), and No. 82 for ESPN. Locke’s rankings, offers, and overall college stock have risen throughout the offseason thanks to solid play on the AAU circuit. At 6’2” and 160 pounds, he offers combo guard skills with a noted ability to score the basketball.

Per D1circuit.com, Locke averaged 17.4 points while shooting 45.4% from 3-point range over 21 games for Team Melo. In five games at the Nike Peach Jam, he averaged 15.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 steals with 1.6 turnovers. He averaged 18 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists for McDonogh High in Maryland. That landed him a spot on the Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro Team.

The Cavaliers first offered Locke in May after he got off to a fast start on the Nike EYBL circuit. He took an unofficial visit to UVA in June. He also has visited Michigan and others this summer. He told PrepHoops.com what he liked about his five finalists here. Here are his thoughts on Virginia:

“They’re a great program too. Always at the top of the standings throughout the country. I’ve talked to Coach Bennett plenty of times and he tells me I’ll be able to come in and play but I have to lock in on defense. I really like that, it forces you to show a lot of grit. Coach Bennett has played in the NBA, so I’m sure he has a whole bunch of connections there. They have some great history there with Malcolm Brogdon winning NBA Rookie of the Year last year and guys like Justin Anderson seeing success in the NBA. Plus, it’s close to home.”

Some of Locke’s highlights are below. Stay tuned for more on hoops recruiting.