4-star guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker commits to Virginia Tech: Terps miss out on 2017 prospect

Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a four-star class of 2017 shooting guard, has verbally committed to Virginia Tech over Maryland and USC just three days after officially visiting Blacksburg. He had been a target of Mark Turgeon and his staff and was in College Park for a visit just before going to see Virginia Tech.

Alexander-Walker took just three of his allotted five official visits, also traveling to USC on March 4, and Maryland on April 30. His commitment to Virginia Tech should come as no surprise due to the strong ties he has with assistant coach Jamie McNeilly, as he recently told Inside Maryland Sports. Recruiting is a relationships game more than anything, and Virginia Tech and Alexander-Walker already had a strong one.

Alexander-Walker is the No. 62 ranked recruit in the class of 2017, and the No. 2 recruit in Missouri. He is the Hokies' first commit for 2017. The Terrapins are still without one, and Alexander would've been a great kickoff to a class Turgeon will need to make a good one. The Terps have Dion Wiley, Jared Nickens and Kevin Huerter currently in the fold at shooting guard, but none is proven as a Big Ten starter at this point.