Florida basketball recruiting: Noah Locke becomes Gators’ second commit in two days

On Monday, the Florida Gators picked up half of a potent backcourt when point guard Andrew Nembhard committed to the program.

On Tuesday, the Gators nabbed the other half of such a tandem, as fellow point guard Noah Locke made his own commitment to Florida.

Locke’s commitment was given just over 24 hours after Nembhard’s, and came originally in a live Facebook video stream on Tuesday night.

The 6’2”, 160-pound Locke hails from Owings Mills in Maryland, where he attends the preparatory McDonogh School, and is a consensus four-star prospect, rated the No. 70 player in the 2018 class by the 247Sports Composite and the No. 69 player by the Recruiting Service Composite Index.

And in comparison to Nembhard, Locke’s skills as a shooter are a fine complement to his future running mate’s lankier frame and court vision. McDonogh coach T.J. Jordan told the Baltimore Sun that Locke’s shooting and work ethic remind Jordan of CJ McCollum, who starred at Lehigh while Jordan worked as the program’s director of basketball operations — and who has gone on to be a star in the NBA, pairing with Damian Lillard to form the Portland Trail Blazers’ fantastic top two guards.

Locke shot great percentages from distance as part of the Nike EYBL this summer, and his shot looks as smooth as it is accurate on video. (You may see the obvious comparison to KeVaughn Allen I see.)

Florida’s two-commit class is already ranked No. 20 in the 247Sports Composite for the 2018 class, and as detailed Monday, the Gators remain in the mix for several other excellent players — and, consequently, on the road to a potential top-10 class.