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X is getting a lot of Crystal Ball love for 6'6 SF Jermaine Samuals on 24/7. (I know, I know!) He is # 51 nationally for 2017 and looks like he would be a great get. What's the scoop?

Xavier has been recruiting Samuels for awhile now. Assistant coach Luke Murray has us in a great position. I'm not sure what his time line is for a decision but Xavier is among his leaders.

I'm really interested to see how the next two weeks shake out for Xavier. Xavier is rumored to be leading for three other recruits not including Samuels. A few should be getting very close to making decisions.

It also appears that Xavier is trending with the last two picks for Paul Scruggs

I feel Xavier is in a better spot with his teammate Kimani Lawerence who isn't blowing up as much. Xavier and Nova are top 2 for Samuels from what I heard.

Two of Xavier's top targets on the wing are Naji Marshall and Elias Harden, both of which sound like they are trending towards committing in the next couple of weeks. Assuming they land those two, not sure how the numbers work out, even in a big class, for Samuels and Lawrence.

If X can't land Naji in the next few weeks though I wouldn't be shocked if they turn up the heat on Samuels.

Chalmers0 wrote:Two of Xavier's top targets on the wing are Naji Marshall and Elias Harden, both of which sound like they are trending towards committing in the next couple of weeks. Assuming they land those two, not sure how the numbers work out, even in a big class, for Samuels and Lawrence.

If X can't land Naji in the next few weeks though I wouldn't be shocked if they turn up the heat on Samuels.

I'm 99% sure that the staff would take both Marshall and Samuels/Lawrence. In a class where Xavier needs a lot of bodies(5-6) I'd be shocked if they'd turn down a top 50-65 guy.

Xavier might be considered a leader (or even the leader) for Jermaine Samuels, but I don't think it means quite as much as some of the other guys they are working on. I say that because my impression is that Jermaine isn't as far along in the process, so while Xavier might have the best chance of landing him, that might only mean they have a 25% chance. I think new schools are still getting involved with him.

JohnW22 wrote:

Chalmers0 wrote:Two of Xavier's top targets on the wing are Naji Marshall and Elias Harden, both of which sound like they are trending towards committing in the next couple of weeks. Assuming they land those two, not sure how the numbers work out, even in a big class, for Samuels and Lawrence.

If X can't land Naji in the next few weeks though I wouldn't be shocked if they turn up the heat on Samuels.

I'm 99% sure that the staff would take both Marshall and Samuels/Lawrence. In a class where Xavier needs a lot of bodies(5-6) I'd be shocked if they'd turn down a top 50-65 guy.

I absolutely agree Xavier would not turn down either of those guys. My point was that if Xavier gets commitments from both Naji and Harden (maybe I'm being a little over optimistic but everything points to this being a strong possibility) you already have a ~Top 50 wing and a ~Top 100 wing in the fold, which I think makes it a lot harder to sell another Top 50-65 on them being a priority and you having the playing time available for them. I definitely think Xavier would stay involved but just think it would be a lot harder to sell them.

Samuels just got offered by Georgetown. Could be a Big East race for him.

Now that the Naji Marshall commitment is official, I'm curious to see how this recruitment plays out for Xavier. I could definitely see Samuels, Marshall, and Elias Harden on the court at the same time at the 2 through 4. The question is whether he would see that too, especially with some other good schools recruiting him. We'll find out in the next few weeks.