Markelle Fultz commits to Washington

The shooting guard, who is from Maryland’s famed DeMatha High School, shockingly picked the Huskies over current college basketball powers such as Kentucky, Arizona, Louisville, and Maryland. The buzz in the past 24 hours or so has been that Fultz, who is rated a five-star prospect by each of the four major recruiting sites, is leaning toward Washington.

Washington Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar is the longest-tenured coach in the Pac-12. 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. As a sophomore, he did not make the varsity team of his high school, DeMatha (Md.) Catholic. Fultz is the type of player that can come in and post similar numbers – and is a more proficient shooter from deep – to get the Huskies back on track.

Of those three programs, Washington has the weakest recent on-court track record, with zero NCAA tournament appearances since ’11 plus 11th- and ninth-place Pac-12 finishes the last two years.

That type of development will also help prepare Fultz to make good on his expressed desire to be a one-and-done college player. Though he doesn’t possess eye-popping athleticism, Fultz is adept at rocking defenders off balance and driving past them. He should be a starter on opening night for the Huskies.

“I took it as a lesson”, Fultz said in April. In turn, the 17-year-old has already been projected as the fifth pick in the 2017 National Basketball Association Draft in DraftExpress.com’s most recent mock draft.

Fultz is the second player in the 2016 class to commit to UW, joining New Zealand center Sam Timmins. As a member of the D.C. Blue Devils, along with stops at Adidas Nations and the Under Armour All-American Camp (where he led players with an average of 22.8 points), Fultz continued to shine behind a quick first step, smooth play and deft scoring ability.

“He’s really talking to me about everything”, he said, “school and being smart in what I do”.