The "sensational six" has become the "fantastic five" following the news Tuesday that Wichita State's top 2018 recruit, Alex Lomax, requested and has been granted a full release from his letter of intent.
Lomax is a four-star point guard who just led Memphis East to its third straight state championship and was recently chosen Tennessee's Mr. Basketball for the third straight season.
He was the cherry on top of coach Gregg Marshall's most-heralded recruiting class when he signed his letter of intent with WSU during the fall signing period to complete the "sensational six."
But Lomax's mind changed when Memphis fired coach Tubby Smith after two seasons and introduced Penny Hardaway, a father figure to Lomax and his AAU and high school coach, on Tuesday. Lomax is expected to follow Hardaway to Memphis.
"I have a lot of respect for Alex Lomax and his family," Marshall said in a statement. "When they chose Wichita State in the fall, over several other very nice offers, my staff and I were honored. Obviously, we take commitments to the Shocker program very seriously, but this is a very unique situation where a young man's mentor and coach since the fifth grade has become a Division I head coach. Allowing him out of his NLOI without any kind of penalty is the right thing to do at this time."
WSU still has signed commitments from Erik Stevenson, Chance Moore, Isaiah Poor Bear Chandler, Morris Udeze, and Jaime Echenique, although Lomax leaves a point-guard void in the class. WSU now has an extra scholarship for its class of 2018 if it chooses to use it.
Landry Shamet, WSU's current point guard, will weigh this professional options this spring and could end up leaving early for the NBA Draft, which could leave the Shockers with senior-to-be Samajae Haynes-Jones as the only point guard on the roster.
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