2018 Four-Star Point Guard Jordan Lathon Commits To Northwestern Wildcats

Northwestern is off to a good start in their 2018 class.

Recently, 4-star Jordan Lathon picked the Wildcats over a final five that also included Butler, Illinois, Iowa State, and Wake Forest. The Grandview, Missouri product gives Chris Collins a highly-rated point guard to kick off his class of 2018.

Jordan Lathon received his offer to Northwestern a little over a month ago. At the time, he seemed destined to the Cyclones. An impressive recruiting job in a short amount of time, Collins will get an important piece to a team that very much will be looking for a point guard in the coming years.

According to Will Ragatza of Inside NU:

In landing Lathon, Northwestern has addressed a major need. With Isiah Brown looking a ways away from being a Big Ten-caliber starting point guard, it’s no secret that Chris Collins needed to add a floor general (and preferably a highly-rated one) in this class to help replace Bryant McIntosh. Securing an early commitment from the late-rising but extremely talented Lathon allows the coaching staff to breathe a little easier going forward.

Before you even get to his film, Lathon appears to be an extremely enticing product. At 6’4, 190 pounds, he already has what is or very close to being a college-ready body.

After seeing his film, you’ll find a fluid runner who is a willing and smooth passer, has a good jump shot and is a very good athlete.

His rebounding and his ability to run the floor is really what pops out, though. He can get up pretty high to bring down rebounds and appears to be excellent in transition.

If you watch a little more, you’ll see that this is someone who is certainly destined for a rise in his rankings. Not that they matter, but Lathon is someone who can very effectively use his athleticism to score and who is able to use his length to play defence.

The most important thing about him at this point is that he’ll come in right in time to replace Bryant McIntosh. According to Will Ragatz:

McIntosh has turned himself into a capable defender, but he’s always been offense-first and hasn’t even finished in the top 20 in the Big Ten in steals in any of his three years. Lathon’s upside on that side of the ball is enticing.

In any conference, having a complete point guard is such an important asset. With Northwestern’s future at the point guard position seeming uncertain, Jordan Lathon brings a complete game that will only improve once he gets entrenched into the program.

As the Wildcats enter a new era of their program, a good start in recruiting classes is pretty important. This is a really strong start, and as his ranking rises (as I believe it ought to), he could easily attract some other prospects to Evanston.

Now, Collins can turn his attention to pieces at other positions. They've got quite a few of those, and appear to have good chances with some, if not all of them.

It always starts at the one, though. And with Laton, the Northwestern Wildcats appear to have a really, really interesting one.