BREAKING: 2019 PG Jahcobi Neath Commits to Wake Forest

The Wake Forest Basketball program got better today.

The Deacs landed their 3rd commit of the 2019 class earlier this morning as Top 5 Canadian PG Jahcobi Neath committed to the Old Gold and Black. Neath took an Official Visit just last weekend to Winston-Salem for Wake’s season opener, and all signs pointed to it going well with him shortly after announcing a Thursday morning decision at Crestwood Prep. He chose Wake Forest over UCF and Tulane, though he had been receiving plenty of other High Major interest in recent weeks after a strong start to his Senior year.

To put it simply, Neath is an absolutely explosive athlete at the guard position. Within 5 seconds of watching his highlight film, you’ll notice his elite athleticism and offensive aggressiveness that few prospects in the class of 2019 have.

He has started off his Senior campaign with a bang, ranking 3rd in PPG, 4th APG, and 7th in SPG in the National Preparatory Association (Canada’s premier Prep League), all while shooting 49% from the field. His Crestwood Prep squad is currently ranked #4 in North Pole Hoops’ National Top 25 in Canada and sits atop the NPA Central Standings at 4-1.

Don’t be fooled by the lack of information out there by the national scouting services — This is a massive pickup by Danny Manning and the staff. Neath has struggled at times with injuries over the last two years, which made it difficult for him to be healthy and at 100% for prominent showcases throughout the recruiting cycle. However, he did feature for the Canada U18 Team at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship last summer, which ended up advancing to the final against the USA in the tournament.

He’s prime for a breakout season at Crestwood and has all the makings of being a contributor from Day 1 in Black and Gold. Having watched multiple games of his from start to finish over the last week, his play reminds me a lot of Codi Miller-McIntyre coming out of High School in the way he attacks the basket and creates for his teammates.

A final note I’ll add on Neath is where he ranks in North Pole Hoops’ 2019 Canadian Prospect Rankings (#5), and some perspective on it to previous classes. NPH’s 2018 Canadian Prospect Rankings featured a Top 5 that had RJ Barrett (5*, Duke), Simi Shittu (5*, Vandy), Andrew Nembhard (5*, Florida), Jaelin Llewellyn (4*, Princeton), and Luguentz Dort (4*, Arizona State); The former of which is projected to go #1 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, and the latter of which is averaging 22 PPG, 8 RPG, and 2 APG three games into his college career.

The quality of Canadian basketball continues to improve rapidly, and it’s truly amazing to see just how talented the premier members of each class are now compared to 5-10 years ago. That being said, I’ll leave it to the experts who have seen him play more times than anyone the last word on Neath and his potential as a Demon Deacon.

All signs point to Neath being a key contributor in Winston-Salem over the next couple of years, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.

For more Wake Forest recruiting coverage, be sure to stay tuned to Blogger So Dear.