Gonzaga guard Chris Lykes becomes the first player to commit to the University of Miami on Sunday night.
The four-star guard is ranked the No. 49 player in the nation by ESPN, and the top player in the Washington, D.C. Before pledging to the Hurricanes, Lykes held offers from Georgetown, Villanova, VCU, Dayton, Notre Dame and others.
“Miami was the first high major school to offer me,” Lykes told Scout.com Evan Daniels. “Coach [Jamal] Brunt, who originally was at Richmond, was the first coach to offer me. He took a coaching job at Miami and got Coach [Jim Larrañaga] to see me play and since then, coach L and I have had a great relationship for almost two years now.”
Lykes averaged 22 points per game for Gonzaga during the winter basketball season, and was named Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Player of the Year. In the Nike EYBL, he led Team Takeover in scoring with 19.9 points per game.
“Their style of play fits mine perfectly,” Lykes told Daniels. “They ran 900 ball screens last year, something that I feel I excel in pretty well. It’s overall a great school, but most importantly they have a great engineering program that will allow me to balance basketball and academics. I couldn’t go wrong with any of the choices that I had, but my heart was with Miami and it always has been since watching Shane Larkin.”
Standing at 5-foot-8, Lykes lacks the height. But, he makes up for it with his tremendous scoring, ability to attack the basket and heart for the game.
You can easily put this in the win column for Miami when it comes to recruiting.
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