4-star wing Jermaine Samuels commits to Villanova

Your Villanova Wildcats have landed their second pledge in the class of 2017 as Jermaine Samuels has made a verbal commitment to Jay Wright.

Samuels is a 4-star 6’6" wing who attends The Rivers School (Mass.) and played for Expressions Elite (Mass.) on the Nike EYBL circuit. He's ranked #44 in the 247 Composite. With Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins set to graduate, he fills a position of need and should compete for early playing time when he arrives on campus.

Samuels took an official visit to Villanova which went well, but a Duke offer during the visit increased speculation that Samuels may be leaning towards Durham. A shot an early playing time has been key in Samuels’ recruitment, and a verbal commitment from Top-75 wing Alex O’Connell may have helped Villanova’s cause, with the Blue Devils expected to bring in up to 7 players in this class.

Samuels is an athletic prospect who excels on the defensive end. He’s a potent slasher on offense with a solid mid-range skillset, and he’s made strides shooting the ball from the outside. Given all their targets on the wing, this is a home run from the ‘Nova staff to land their #1 target and the highest ranked player of the bunch.

Check out Samuels’ most recent highlight reel from the Las Vegas Fab 48:

Samuels joins Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree in the Wildcats class, which is now ranked 12th in the country per 247. Expect Wright and staff to shift their focus to securing a guard with Lonnie Walker and Darryl Morsell getting most of their attention.