Utah basketball: Utes get last minute 2017 commit in Devante Doutrive

While all of the focus has shifted towards the 2018 recruiting class, the last top 100 recruit of 2017 has finally found a new home with the Utah Utes.

On Wednesday, Devante Doutrive committed to Utah after originally cutting his list down to Gonzaga, UTEP, and Oregon. With the deadline to enroll at schools approaching, the guard needed to pick a school soon.

A big reason why Devante had to wait this long was due to academic issues affecting his eligibility for this upcoming season. It appears though that the NCAA has cleared him to play this upcoming year. Due to the late process of his recruitment, Doutrive will redshirt this upcoming season.

Academic issues aside, this is a huge pickup for the Utes, especially considering he’s ranked as a four-star prospect and No. 67 by Scout recruiting rankings.

The 6’5, 190-pound guard averaged 22.3 ppg, 8.7 rpg, and 5.6 apg in his senior year for Birmingham High School in Van Nuy, California. His athleticism and scoring ability will be great for a Utah program looking for a replacement for first-round pick Kyle Kuzma.

Utah went to the NIT last season and will be looking to replace four out of their top six scorers from the previous season in addition to Kuzma. As for the guard line, outside of SMU transfer Sedrick Barefield the Utes don’t have a proven scorer.

With just two months before the official start of the season, acquiring a player of this talent is a recruiting steal for the coaching staff.

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He joins fellow Class of 2017 recruit Christian Popoola as guards that will carry the program for coach Larry Krystkowiak for years to come — even if it takes a year for the fans to see Devante in action.