Mason Lockett checked off three boxes that ultimately swayed his college decision.
One, how much the school’s coaches were in on the Oswego East senior guard. Two, the developmental piece, which was huge for him.
Third, home.
“I didn’t want to leave home. I wanted family and friends to be able to watch me,” Lockett said. “A lot of schools are filling up already, I know where I want to go. Why wait?”
So Lockett decided not to wait any longer.
The 6-foot-5 combo guard, one of Illinois’ top prospects in the Class of 2026, made his verbal commitment to DePaul on Sunday night.
Lockett chose the Blue Demons from offers including Saint Louis, Loyola and Minnesota.
Lockett said that DePaul assistant coach Paris Parham came to watch him with his AAU team Young & Reckless at the Peach Jam in July in Augusta, Georgia. The DePaul coaching staff also watched Lockett quite a bit with his Oswego East team in June.
DePaul coach Chris Holtmann and his coaching staff stressed the developmental piece to Lockett.
“Improving my game so I can be a pro,” Lockett said. “The three things they talk about is putting on my weight, that was a big thing, was adding strength, developing my shooting and ball handling and keep getting better defensively.”
Lockett, who started 32 games as a sophomore for Oswego East, was limited to 16 of the Wolves’ 31 games his junior year.
He missed the first week with a concussion – coincidentally, DePaul was at the practice when he suffered the injury – and the last six weeks with a foot injury.
When he did play, Lockett averaged 16.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, four assists and two steals per game last season in leading Oswego East to a 21-10 record.
Lockett, though, was back healthy by the spring. He participated for Oswego East during the June live period, and looked as good as ever.
“I think [DePaul] is a good fit for him,” Oswego East coach Ryan Velasquez said. “His best basketball is ahead of him.”
Velasquez sees Lockett as being more than capable of competing collegiately with his ability to score at three levels, his versatility, rebounding for a guard, ball handling and defense.
“He can guard one through five and he rebounds. Mason is a tenacious rebounder for a guard,” Velasquez said.
“I think that will translate to the college level. If you can’t play defense and you can’t take care of the ball you can’t play, that’s a fact. And he can do that. It may take some time and more development, but he’ll keep working. That’s one thing I like about Mason is he keeps getting in the gym. It’s a testament to his hard work and his family is so supportive.”
Lockett looks forward to playing in one of college basketball’s best leagues, the Big East, close to home. And for a DePaul program that looks to be on the upswing.
DePaul has not made the NCAA Tournament since the 2003-04 season, two years before joining the Big East, but had an 11-win improvement in going 14-20 last season in its first under Holtmann, a former Big Ten Coach of the Year at Ohio State.
“100%. They’re trending in the right direction and I wanted to be a part of that,” Lockett said. “Coach told me it will be 20-25 NBA scouts at games. That was a huge part of my decision, is getting the chance to play against guys who will be drafted. That’s a big part of it.”