Report: 2017 4* Point Guard Markus Howard Will Visit Marquette; May Reclassify To 2016

We already knew that Class of 2017 point guard Markus Howard was interested in Marquette, and now that interest has developed slightly further.

According to Jared Cohen from Sports360AZ.com, the 5'11" 185 lb. guard has set up four of his five allowed official visits.  He'll be visiting Marquette from February 26-28, which will have him on campus for the National Marquette Day game against Villanova.  That will be the second of Howard's four visits, as he's currently on his visit to Arizona State.  Howard was verbally committed to ASU, but backed down from that after Herb Sendek was let go.  Current Marquette assistant coach Stan Johnson was a primary factor in the Sun Devils recruiting Howard in the first place, which explains how the Golden Eagles have found themselves in the mix.

Howard's other two visits will be to Central Arkansas (March 2-4) and Baylor (March 4-6).  Why CAU?  Older brother Jordan is the reigning Southland Freshman of the Year and currently leads the Bears in scoring this season.

The bigger news in the Sports360AZ article is that Howard is considering reclassifying to 2016.  He attends Findlay Prep in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, NV.  Right now, Howard is on track to complete his coursework required to graduate from high school by the spring of 2016, which would allow him to start college that fall.  The reason why this is particularly interesting is that Marquette does have a scholarship open for next fall.  I don't know if ASU, Baylor, or CAU have spots available, but if Howard is determined to jump to college a year early, then that has to be a mark in Marquette's favor.

Howard is graded as a four star prospect by the 247 Sports Composite system, which has him ranked #30 in the Class of 2017.  It's impossible to say for certain, but it feels safe to say that Howard would still be at least a top 50 recruit if he was slotted into the 2016 rankings.