A Lion, a Romeo, and “The Show”. No, that isn’t the name of a new Broadway play. Those are names given to the members of DePaul’s 2019 recruiting class who are expected to officially sign with the Blue Demons on Wednesday.
They come from as far away as Southern California and as nearby as Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood.
Their true names are Oscar Lopez, Jr., Romeo Weems, and Markese Jacobs.
Together they represent the best recruiting class at DePaul in about 20 years.
247Sports.com currently ranks the trio as the 18th best recruiting class in the nation, the third best in the Big East conference, and number one in the state of Illinois.
Weems was the first of the three to verbally commit to DePaul head coach Dave Leitao. He is also the highest ranked of the three. Romeo got on board with DePaul back in May. The 6-7 forward from New Haven, Michigan is a four star prospect who is ranked 50th in the nation by 247Sports.com. He’s the 11th best power forward prospect in the country and the favorite to win Mr. Basketball in the state of Michigan. Romeo chose DePaul over Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, and Oregon.
Next to climb on board with the Blue Demons was Oscar “the Lion” Lopez, Jr. Lopez. The 6-4 shooting guard from Southern California committed in early October. Lopez is a versatile ballplayer who is a 3-star prospect and is underrated at 274th in the country according to 247Sports. Lopez chose the Blue Demons over Colorado and Grand Canyon University.
The last of the three to commit to DePaul was Markese “The Show” Jacobs. The athletic 5-10 point guard is a local product from Uplift High School in Chicago. For almost two years, Jacobs was committed to attending the University of Kansas. Jacobs and the Jayhawks parted ways in August. Not too long after that he committed to DePaul, choosing the Blue Demons over Florida State, Illinois, and Nebraska. Marksese is a four star prospect who is ranked 90th in the nation by 247Sports. He’s considered the eight best point guard in the country and is ranked as the third best player in the state of Illinois.
The three will join Arkansas transfer Darious Hall, who is sitting out this season under NCAA rules, in DePaul’s recruiting class for 2019.
And it may not end there either. The Blue Demons have a number of recruiting targets for the spring signing period. Among those is former Lincoln Park High School wing Terrence Shannon, Jr. The 6-6 wing, who is now at IMG Academy in Florida, tells WeAreDePaul.com that he won’t decide during the November signing period and has his eyes on the spring. Shannon has taken official visits to DePaul, Florida State, Georgetown, Illinois, and Texas Tech.
Leitao will also likely look to add a big man in the Spring to his recruiting class as he continues to look to add to his frontcourt in the spring signing period.
All together this recruiting class bodes well for the Blue Demons in the future.