By Joe Henricksen
Loyola basketball recruiting rolled up another commitment on Friday as Peoria Manual’s Keke White, a 6-0 combo guard, committed to coach Porter Moser on his unofficial visit to the Loyola campus. White is among the Hoops Report’s top 25 prospects in the senior class.
The opportunity to be a part of something new is what really intrigued White when it came to Loyola.
“The whole re-construction of the entire basketball program is what was exciting to me,” says White. “I am looking forward to being a part of that rebuilding. The program really looks to be going in a great direction.”
White, who played on the AAU circuit with the Illinois Wolves, is a tough-minded guard who provides a team more than what a box score will tell you and has a knack for simply making plays. He’s a basketball “player,” with competitiveness and toughness that permeates throughout whatever team he plays on. While he’s more shifty and creative than athletic, White is a terrific defensive player.
White is the fourth Loyola commitment in the senior class, with the Ramblers already having three highly-regarded commitments locked up in the Class of 2012. Darrell Combs, a smooth 6-1 scorer from Thornwood, is among the top dozen senior prospects in Illinois. Nick Osborne and Matt O’Leary, both prep players from Indiana, committed in early August and bring both size and upside. Osborne is a big-bodied 6-8 power forward from Muncie, Ind., while O’Leary, a 6-7 face-up power forward from Terre Haute, Ind., with terrific shooting ability, boosted his stock with an impressive July.
The recruiting roll also includes the Class of 2013 as St. Charles North’s Quenten Payne, a 6-4 junior and younger brother of Cully Payne, who transferred from Iowa and is sitting out this year at Loyola. Both Payne brothers have the potential to be a Horizon League difference-makers.
