ESPN 100 guard Markelle Fultz made a verbal commitment Friday night to Washington, announcing his decision live on ESPNU during the Elite 24 3-point and dunk contest. While Fultz rarely beats you with his first move in the halfcourt, he’s still a playmaker who is learning to attack off of ball-screens, is also capable of creating for others off the bounce and is improving as both a 3-point and mid-range pull-up shooter.
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Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar has had six of those: Jon Brockman, Spencer Hawes, Quincy Pondexter, Abdul Gaddy and Tony Wroten (and Martell Webster, who signed with UW but instead entered the National Basketball Association draft out of high school). The Washington, D.C., area native is said to be deciding between Arizona, Louisville and Washington.
Waves of offers rolled in soon after, as Fultz, who has room to grow into his 6-foot-5, 180-pound frame, shined on the AAU circuit.
The Huskies landed their biggest recruit in years on Friday.
Like Russell, Fultz has plans to be a one-and-done if it works out in his favor.
This month he took official visits to Arizona, Louisville and Washington, following previous unofficial trips to Kentucky and Louisville.
Fultz told Sporting News in July that he “didn’t know (he) would be this good” after a series of brilliant spring and summer performances with his AAU team, the DC Blue Devils, catalyzed his rise up the Class of 2016 ranking. At the start of the 2016-17 season, Fultz will join a young backcourt needing to offset the loss of leading returning scorer in senior Andrew Andrews and former standout point guard Nigel Williams-Goss, who transferred to in-state foe Gonzaga this off-season.
24/7 Sports has Fultz ranked as the No. 7 overall player in the Class of 2016. He said his goal is to start at point guard for the Huskies, even though most recruiting websites now list him as a shooting guard. The most intriguing part of his recruitment, though, is that Kentucky never became a bigger player.
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Scout.com evaluates Fultz: “As a sophomore, Fultz played JV”.
