After hosting one five-star guard on an official visit last weekend, the Vols will be hosting yet another five-star guard on an official visit this upcoming weekend.
Tennessee had five-star combo guard Josiah James on campus for an official visit last weekend, and this weekend they’re supposed to host another five-star combo guard on an official visit. According to his Twitter, five-star combo guard Jalen Lecque will be visiting Knoxville this upcoming weekend on an official visit.
Official visit to Tennesse this weekend✴️??
— Jalen Lecque (@jalenlecque10) September 12, 2018
Lecque is a five-star per the 247Sports rankings, but their composite ratings have him just outside the five-star range. Those rankings have him listed as the No. 29 overall player and No. 4 combo guard in the 2019 class.
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Back in August, Lecque released a list of his top seven schools in his recruitment, and Tennessee made the cut along with UCLA, Louisville, NC State, TCU, and Texas Tech. Lecque has already taken an official visit to NC State and is expected to take more official visits this fall. Lecque also holds offers from Kentucky, Villanova, Kansas, Syracuse, Indiana, Texas, UConn, Xavier, Auburn, and many others.
At 6-foot-4, 189 pounds, Lecque has the frame and long arms that should make him fit in perfectly as a two-guard in most collegiate systems. But he has skills of a point guard too, and he’s worked more on his point guard skills this summer and is trying to transition into more of a point guard heading into this senior season of high school. If he has success there as a point guard, expect the Vols to ramp up their pursuit of him even more.
Lecque’s highlight film from his junior season and during the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League this summer show off his freak athleticism. He’s an extremely talented player who skies for dunks, drives in the lane consistently, and has a smooth stroke on his jumpers. He can play some defense too, using his long arms and exceptional jumping skills to be a pain to other guards. Lecque has a pretty good mid-range game and can shoot from inside the three-point arc fairly well. He knows how to play in the paint, too. His biggest weakness is his three-point shooting, but he’s been working on improving that through just sheer volume of shooting. His passing skills also need some improvement, but he’s learning how to be more effective there too.
According to D1Circuit.com, Lecque averaged 14.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game in 16 games of Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League this year. In the Peach Jam series later this past summer, he averaged 15 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.2 steals in five games. He only made four of his 38 three-pointers in the EYBL, good for just a 10.5 shooting percentage from behind the arc. He improved that in the Peach Jam, making five of his 19 threes in those five games (26.3 percent). But it’s clear that’s the top area of his game he needs to focus on. His assist-to-turnover ratio also improved quite a bit in the Peach Jam, going from 3.8 assists to 2.8 turnovers per game in the EYBL to 3.4 assists compared to 1.8 turnovers a game in the Peach Jam.
Per PrepCircuit.com, Lecque averaged 20.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 7.5 assists in 13 recorded games during his junior season this past year.
Lecque unofficially visited Tennessee back in January of this year, and UT’s coaches made him a big priority in the summer as well. With four-star point guard Tre Mann committing to Florida, Lecque and the aforementioned James have become the top targets for the Vols at guard in the 2019 recruiting cycle.
Tennessee is battling with the blue bloods for both James and Lecque, and UT hopes they can pull at least one of them in and land a bonafide play-maker in their 2019 class. Getting both of them to come to Knoxville on official visits is big, and the Vols are in a good spot with both.
