Class of 2017 Small Forward Terrence Lewis Picks Iowa State Over Marquette

On Tuesday evening, Terrence Lewis, a top 100 small forward in the class of 2017, made his verbal commitment to Iowa State. His decision came just seven days after cutting his list to a final four that included Marquette, UNLV, Illinois, as well as the Cyclones.

Lewis, a 6’6", 195 lb. small forward, attends Riverside University High School in Milwaukee. According to 247 Sports, Lewis is the 100th best player in the class of 2017, he’s the second best prospect in the state of Wisconsin, trailing only Michigan commit Jordan Poole. Lewis making his declaration in favor of head coach Steve Prohm means that for the first time in five years, there will not be one of the two best Wisconsin players in a recruiting class attending Marquette.

It’s not a terrible surprise that Lewis picked Iowa State, or that he didn’t pick Marquette. Head coach Steve Wojciechowski only offered him a scholarship in the middle of July, and Lewis took an unofficial visit to ISU this past weekend. When news broke shortly after that visit that Lewis would make his announcement just a few days later, it seemed fairly obvious that he’d end up in Ames wearing red and white. It also seems fairly obvious that whatever made Wojo hesitant to offer Lewis a spot ended up being a fairly significant negative when it came time for Lewis to make his decision.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Does it make Marquette look really good when they’re bringing in the top talent in the state on a regular basis? Absolutely. But Wojciechowski and his staff have shown that they’re going to go wherever they need and/or want to go to find kids that fit their model of a Marquette player. All that matters when it comes to recruiting is two things: 1) Does the kid want to be in Milwaukee playing for Wojo, and 2) Can Wojo and his assistants get the absolute most out of a kid? If the answer to both questions is yes, then it doesn’t really matter where the player comes from.

With three open scholarships for the class of 2017, Steve Wojciechowski still has some work to do. He has two four star power forwards visiting in the month of September: Theo John (247 Composite #128) will visit over Labor Day weekend, and Xavier Tillman (247 Composite #92) will be in Milwaukee on September 23. When it comes to wing players, Jamal Cain (247 Composite #198) just recently included Marquette in his final four.