Eli DeLaurier gaining momentum on the court and recruiting trail
Eli DeLaurier, a 2024 prospect, is a name for basketball fans to remember over the next two years. His skill set has been developing at a quick rate, and he has a frame that will enable him to put on muscle before he heads to college. The three-star forward also has family lineage on his side. His older brothers, Javin and Ethan, signed with Duke and Navy out of high school, respectively.
As DeLaurier continues to mold into a more developed basketball prospect, he has caught the eye of many college coaches. He breaks down some of those involved with his recruitment with Rivals.
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MORE: Roundtable on updated 2024 rankings
2022 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2023 Rankings: Rivals150
2024 Rankings: Top 40
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IN HIS OWN WORDS
Schools involved: “Mississippi State and George Washington are the main two. Old Dominion, Radford, West Virginia, and Texas A&M have also offered.”
Mississippi State: “They’ve been really active in their recruitment. It’s been fun to hear from them and they’ve been really consistent. They’re really informative, and their team is really close together. I can really feel a lot of love. They’re a really tight community, which I really enjoy, just like my (Team) Loaded basketball team. I’m really appreciative when a team takes care of their community.”
George Washington: “They’ve been texting me quite a lot. They’ve been really active. I like how their team plays, they’re really fast-moving. I also enjoy their values.”
West Virginia: “Their coach hasn’t really been in contact with me a lot. I really don’t have a lot of information on West Virginia.”
Texas A&M: “Also the same (as West Virginia), I haven’t heard from them a lot.”
Areas of improvement: “One, my ball-handling skills, and two, my shot. If I can improve those two, then my game will come together really nicely. Once I’m able to bring the ball up the court better and become more of a knockdown shooter, then it’ll be a lot harder for most people to be able to stop me on the court.”
Visits: “I don’t have any visits coming up, but I’d like to visit North Carolina, Virginia, Dayton and Marquette, but I’m not leaning toward anybody yet.”
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RIVALS' REACTION
DeLaurier will rack up more offers as we head into July, as he’s had a good spring with Team Loaded and should continue that into the final live period. The three-star forward heard from a lot of other schools on June 15, but most notably Illinois, Kansas State, Virginia Tech, Penn State and VCU. DeLaurier will be a player that we have to heavily consider in our next rankings update later in the summer.