James Johnson Lands First Commitment In 2015 Shooting Guard Warren Craft

First-year Virginia Tech men's basketball coach James Johnson is officially off the schneid, after landing his first recruit today in Roanoke, Va. William Fleming High School sophomore shooting guard Warren Craft. Craft is a member of the class of 2015.

Craft is a 6'2" 160 lb. shooting guard who averaged 12.3 ppg. and 3 apg. a year ago as a freshman. He also reportedly shot 82% from the foul line and 33% from 3-point range. He has been referred to as an under-the-radar player, despite reportedly receiving interest from North Carolina and Radford (pretty divergent schools, huh?). Tech is the only official offer to date for the sophomore. The Hokies apparently offered Craft after his performance at a Virginia Tech camp this summer.

Though this commitment doesn't help the Hokies immediately, it certainly helps to end a disturbing trend of players transferring and de-committing from Virginia Tech. It is too early to tell where Craft will be ranked, and if this was a prudent decision by the Virginia Tech staff to offer a player who has only completed one year of high school basketball. Even if the Hokies reached for an relatively unknown player, it's a step in the right direction after the mess created by the timing of former coach Seth Greenberg's firing.

Johnson, who was awarded the head coaching job on May 1, had yet to receive a commitment from a player. Johnson was able to convince an incoming recruit (Marshall Wood) to stay with the Hokies, but failed to keep the Hokies' most-touted recruit in 2012 (Montrezl Harrell) and the Hokies' highest-rated recruit of all-time in Dorian Finney-Smith. Johnson was also able to acquire transfer guard Adam Smith from UNC Wilmington, although he will not be eligible until the 2013 season. The team currently has only eight scholarship players eligible for the 2012-13 season.

For more on Virginia Tech basketball and recruiting, and for updates on Warren Craft, Gobbler Country is the place to be.