Travis Ford and Saint Louis have offered wing Javon Pickett a scholarship after he was granted his release from Illinois. Pickett is a three-star 6’4 wing from Belleville East High School in Illinois and 247Sports.com ranks him as the seventh best recruit from Illinois. Like five-star center Jeremiah Tilmon, Pickett asked to be released from his NLI this weekend instead of sticking with new Illini coach Brad Underwood.
Prior to committing to Illinois, Pickett had offers from Illinois State, Loyola-Chicago, Illinois-Chicago, Drake and Tennessee State. However, he committed early on in his recruitment and had a strong senior year. SLU and Western Kentucky are Pickett’s first two offers since gaining his release, and he said he would still consider Illinois when he announced he would be requesting his release. He was one of the most prolific scorers in the St. Louis metro area, pouring in 25.9 points per game, and doing so in a variety of ways. Pickett also plays extremely hard, which has been a hallmark of Ford’s other SLU recruits.
While the Billikens currently have a lot of depth at the wing and guard spots, Pickett would slot in nicely and has the potential to be a valuable contributor from the get-go with his scoring ability. He also is close with SLU signee and fellow Metro East star Jordan Goodwin, which could help sway towards Pickett coming to Saint Louis.
After the transfers of Zeke Moore and Matt Neufeld, Travis Ford has two scholarships to work with. If he can bring in Pickett and then a big man, it would be the perfect way to cap an already stacked recruiting class.
