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On Friday, Chris Mooney filled one of his three open 2021 scholarships, receiving a verbal commitment from Marcus Randolph.  The 6’ 5” shooting guard out of Archbishop Wood Catholic (NJ) chose the Spiders over Loyola Chicago, Temple and Siena among his 13 D-1 offers.  

Joining Jason Nelson and Malcolm Dread in the Spiders’ 2021 class, he too plays well off of the ball and has an apt court awareness.  Speaking on Richmond’s offensive style, “That definitely played a huge factor…I would watch a film on Richmond. They would show me film and just compare it to our Archbishop Wood offense, and it was similar. They like to run, shoot the three ball. They like to space the floor out…Everybody on the court can ball handle,” Randolph said.  He bolsters their immense wing depth, indicating the Spiders would likely go after a big man next.  With two scholarship slots remaining in that class though, they could go in a multitude of directions.

Randolph is a smooth lefty with a crafty finishing package.  He can stretch the floor, both off of the dribble or catch.  Listed on most recruiting websites as a shooting guard, he can play on ball more than sufficiently.  “I’d say [I am] a combo guard.  I can run the offense.  I can set people up.  Just a playmaker, a playmaking shooter.  I can definitely space the floor.  I feel as though I’m a three point shooter…Offensive threat,” Randolph described himself.  Expect him to resemble a lengthier and less ball-dominant Blake Francis.

Offense shows up on both of their highlights the most, but Francis asserted himself defensively in conference play last year, especially down the stretch.  When Chris Mooney made the switch a season ago to primarily a man-to-man defense, he took advantage of an athletic and versatile personnel.  Just as it maximized Francis’ capabilities, it could with Randolph’s as well.  “I want to be a lockdown defender at the next level,” he said.  “I like playing man,” he explained when asked a preference between that and zone.    

Randolph explained the various factors weighing into his decision, and you can likely guess many of them: style fit, a new practice facility, a potential top-25 team this year or most beautiful campus in the nation.  The list goes on.  However, the Spiders had another thing going for them too.  Freshman Isaiah Wilson played his AAU ball for Team Final, the same program Randolph played for, be it a year behind.  “He [Wilson] called me.  I had multiple talks with him, and he was just telling me how good it was up on campus and how I would fit up there, and he thought it would be a great opportunity for me and him,” Randolph explained.  

The Spiders get their guy in Marcus Randolph after losing out on Zach Hicks and Ian Schieffelin.  Duncan Powell and Gus Larson are two of Richmond’s several remaining priorities in filling out the rest of its 2021 class.

Marcus Randolph Commits To Richmond  was originally published on espnrichmond.com