Virginia Basketball Recruiting Notes: Noah Locke Reportedly To Visit

This latest Virginia basketball recruiting news and notes feature begins with some positive visit news regarding McDonogh (Owings Mills, MD) class of 2018 shooting guard Noah Locke.

Rivals.com reporter Corey Evans reports that Locke, a consensus 4-star recruit, will take an unofficial visit to UVA this weekend. The 6’2”, 180-pound prospect last visited Virginia on June 30, when he was in Charlottesville for another unofficial visit. This likely will be Locke’s final experience on Grounds before he makes his college decision.

Locke, whose stock skyrocketed this spring and summer while he played for Team Melo on the Nike EYBL AAU circuit, is currently on an official visit at Ohio State. He has also scheduled official visits to Providence (August 31), Xavier (September 9), Michigan (September 16) and Florida (September 30). Kansas and Maryland round out the finalists for this sharpshooting rising senior.

Prior to this news I wasn’t confident in Virginia’s chances here. Another visit at least gives Coach Tony Bennett and company another opportunity to sway the Maryland star.

Nigel Johnson Officially A Hoo

Virginia basketball announced the addition of Rutgers graduate transfer guard Nigel Johnson to its 2017/2018 roster. Click here to view the 6’1″, 186-pound point guard’s official bio.

ESPN Releases Revised Top 100

ESPN.com has released a revised version of its Top 100 rankings for the class of 2018. Here is a rundown of where those prospects Virginia has offered stand on this list.

-No. 2 – Zion Williamson, F (Virginia eliminated)
-No. 3 – Cameron Reddish, SF (Virginia eliminated)
-No. 7 – Keldon Johnson, SF (Virginia not a serious contender at this point)
-No. 11 – Darius Garland, PG (Virginia eliminated)
-No. 12 – Immanuel Quickley, PG (Virginia eliminated)
-No. 13 – Quentin Grimes, G (Virginia eliminated)
-No. 14 – Nassir Little, SF (Virginia eliminated)
-No. 15 – Jalen Smith, F (Maryland commit)
-No. 23 – Jahvon Quinerly, PG (Arizona commit)
-No. 25 – Coby White, CG (North Carolina commit)
-No. 26 – Devon Dotson, PG (Virginia not a serious contender at this point)
-No. 33 – David McCormack, PF/C (UVA in contention)
-No. 38 – Will Richardson, CG (UVA in contention)
-No. 39 – Aaron Wiggins, SF (Maryland commit)
-No. 41 – Joey Hauser, F (Marquette commit)
-No. 42 – Elijah Weaver, CG (Virginia not in contention)
-No. 46 – Andrew Nembhard, PG (Virginia does not appear to be a serious contender)
-No. 51 – Nate Laszewski, F (UVA’s status unclear.)
-No. 52 – Brandon Williams, CG (Arizona commit)
-No. 53 – AJ Reeves, SG (Providence commit)
-No. 54 – David Duke, CG (Virginia eliminated)
-No. 56 – Mike Devoe, PG (Virginia eliminated)
-No. 61 – Darius Days, PF (Virginia eliminated)
-No. 64 – Noah Locke, SG (UVA in final 8)
-No. 70 – Brandon Slater, SF (Villanova commit)
-No. 74 – AJ Green, PG (Northern Iowa commit)
-No. 75 – James Akinjo, PG (UVA’s standing unclear)
-No. 79 – J’Raan Brooks, PF (USC commit)
-No. 83 – Jared Butler, CG (UVA is in Butler’s top 6)
-No. 92 – Prentiss Hubb, CG (Notre Dame commit)
-No. 94 – Luther Muhammad, CG (UVA is in Muhammad’s final 5 and hosted him on an unofficial visit last weekend)
-No. 99 – Jaelin Llewellyn, PG (Princeton commit)

Class of 2018 Notes

– Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, LSU, SMU, Texas, TCU and Virginia make up the final eight schools on Kaden Archie’s list.

Per Twitter, the Midlothian (TX) 6’6” rising senior guard will visit SMU on September 1. He has not ever visited UVA, so obviously the next step as far as the Cavaliers are concerned is getting him on Grounds. Virginia offered a scholarship on July 30, 2017.

– Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, VA) post David McCormack visited Kansas unofficially on August 22. The 6’9”, 275-pound senior has yet to narrow his list or schedule official visits, but he remains a top target of the Hoos. What’s next in his recruitment is unclear.

– Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, VA) wing Keldon Johnson has added an offer from Kentucky. Virginia has been on the outside looking in with the 6’6” South Hill (VA) native the past few months, and this offer certainly does not change anything. Consider Kentucky a strong player here with official visits to Texas and Florida State looming.

Class of 2019 Offers

Multiple outlets are reporting that Virginia has offered class of 2019 post Isaiah Stewart. The 6’8”, 240-pound prospect also boasts offers from Florida, Georgetown, Maryland and Syracuse according to USA Today.

Stewart also made news in recent days when it was announced he was transferring from McQuaid Jesuit (Rochester, N.Y.) to national power La Lumiere (La Porte, IN) for his junior year.

Stewart becomes the fourth known post offer Virginia has extended in his class. Check out our Scholarship Picture page for the rundown of the others.

Earlier this month, Virginia offered another junior in McEachern (Powder Springs, GA) wing Isaac Okoro. The 6’5”, 200-pound prospect, a member of the 2017/2018 USA Junior National squad, also boasts offers from Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, South Florida and Tulane.