Noah Locke sees his stock pick up
Baltimore, MD
The 2018 recruiting class has already been documented early on for its lack of star power. While there will definitely be a few names that jump out from the abyss, one prospect that has begun to see his recruitment pick up this fall is Noah Locke. A 6-foot-2 combo guard out of McDonogh School in Maryland, the top-100 junior caught us up on his past few months and gave insight on his most recent offer, one coming from the Xavier Musketeers.
Running with the Team Melo 16-under bunch this past summer, a group that was recently recognized for its success where it was given a Nike sponsorship, Locke might have been the primary catalyst for the acknowledgement. Someone that can really score the basketball, especially out of the mid-range region, there aren’t many better competitors across the land out of the 2018 class than the Maryland native. Due to his consistent production, toughness, and polished scoring abilities, Locke has seen his stock soar as programs such as Xavier, St. Joe’s, Stanford, Providence, Penn State, and Florida have remained in close touch.
In recent weeks, Locke hit the road and got a glimpse of the programs at both Providence and Penn State. Ed Cooley’s program has done a great job of developing its guards in past years and impressed the McDonogh School product and for a variety of reasons. “I liked them a lot. The coaches stay in touch with me and make sure it’s known that I am a big priority for them,” Locke stated. “Their team is obviously a family and easy to interact with. Even though the school is small, basketball is the main sport there and they get a lot of support all of the time.”
Along with the visit to the Big East bunch, Penn State made its own inroads with the Team Melo star. “I went to watch the football game when they played Maryland and the crowd was unbelievable. I don’t know how the crowds get for basketball but if it is anything like that, it would be crazy,” Locked said. “I liked the coaches a lot. They were big on me interacting with the players and knowing how the players feel about the school so overall, it was a good visit and the coaches have a good relationship with me.”
Finishing off his visit spree this fall, Xavier hosted the go-to scoring option this past weekend, a trip that Locke walked away with a scholarship offer from the top-25 program. “One thing that I took away from the coaches, specifically coach (Chris) Mack, is to make sure that I take school really serious and think of things that I want to pursue after the ball stops bouncing,” Locke said about his interactions with the staff in Cincinnati. “I liked the atmosphere and that basketball is a huge part of the school. They don’t have football so the main focus is on basketball which might be a lot of pressure for the basketball team to do well but I like it.”
Things are just beginning to take off now for Locke and as more programs round out their 2017 classes, expect for many more to make their ways into McDonogh School this winter and leave the Maryland based school highly impressed with the capabilities out of top-100 guard Noah Locke.
