Bronx native Terry Larrier, a 6-foot-8 swingman who attends The Phelps School in Philadelphia, committed to head coach Shaka Smart and VCU Monday night, picking the Rams over UConn, his AAU coach Terrence “Munch” Williams said.
Smart’s highest rated recruit in four seasons as the VCU head man, Larrier is entering his second year at The Phelps School after one year at John F. Kennedy. His status dramatically rose after a big AAU season with Scan, and his ranking rose, up to No. 39 in the country by Rivals.com
The sharpshooting, long and lean forward — perfect for VCU’s “havoc” system of pressing and attacking — held up to 40 scholarship offers in August, before cutting his list to six — VCU, Seton Hall, Miami, UConn, Florida and Florida. After taking an official visit to VCU over the weekend, he was down to UConn and VCU before making the call.
“My relationship with Shaka Smart,” Larrier told Scout.com, in explaining his decision. “We had a good relationship. We talk like every other day. He’s a good coach at a good program. I like what he does with his guys. He has a winning program. He’s the type of coach I want to play for. We talked almost every day and on a regular basis. We don’t just talk about basketball. We talk about life. He’s [a] good dude.”
Larrier joins fellow four-star VCU commits Justin Tillman, a forward from Detroit, and point guard Jonathan Williams of Virginia.