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Illini offer Morgan Park's Marcus LoVett

The senior point guard is shooting up the rankings, and some recruiting analysts are raving about him

By Collin Whitchurch
Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Well this is certainly intriguing.

Marcus LoVett, the 5-foot-10 senior who recently moved to Chicago from California, has reportedly been lighting up the offseason circuits, and has at least one analyst — the Chicago Sun-Times' Joe Henricksen — writing things like this about the kid's potential.

Already with a catchy new nickname, "Bright Lights," the Marcus LoVett hype is going to quickly shift into another gear once we get out of these rather hidden fall open gyms and, pardon the pun, the lights go on. It will be deserved and will only get bigger after taking in LoVett’s dynamic play this past week.

When a player can do that –– impress quickly and emphatically with no reservations –– in just a couple weeks of open gyms and one fall shootout, there is a reason to get excited. But that’s the type of basketball talent LoVett possesses, and it’s why the 5-11 senior is the City/Suburban Hoops Report’s No. 2 prospect in Illinois in the Class of 2015.

The fact that the Illini are in on him is no surprise, of course. After missing out on Jawun Evans, John Groce & Co. are still looking for a another guard to pair with the recently-committed Jalen Coleman. LoVett, it seems they believe, would fit in perfectly.

He's currently rated as a four-star recruit by most services, and has a composite ranking on 247 of 90, but per Henricksen, that's too low.

He’s received plenty of high-major interest over the past three years, ran with the Mac Irvin Fire at one point, and he’s currently a top 100 prospect nationally, ranked No. 88 by Scout and No. 90 by Rivals (ridiculously low, by the way).

But due to a few high school transfers and playing minimally on the club circuit and all-star camps this past year, it’s been a case of "out of sight, out of mind" for LoVett. And in this what-have-you-done-for-me-lately AAU basketball world, "out of sight, out of mind" is a hype and rankings killer.

LoVett also has offers from DePaul, Kansas and Tennesse and has yet to set up any official visits, making it unlikely he'll commit during the signing period in November. This one could drag out until the spring, folks.