4-Star Guard Curtis Givens III Commits to LSU over Memphis

Memphis native Curtis Givens III shocked his hometown Saturday afternoon.

The 2024 4-star recruit committed to LSU over Memphis after being widely expected to land at the latter school throughout the past month.

Givens made his pledge to LSU official in front of spectators at Big Bill’s Bar-Be-Que on Kirby Road in East Memphis. The ceremony was also streamed live nationally via the On3 Recruits YouTube channel.

Givens’ announcement comes just two weeks after taking an official visit to Memphis in late September. He previously visited Georgia Tech, Texas, Indiana and, of course, LSU.

Ranked as high as No. 33 in the country by On3, the 6-foot-2 point guard is a highly regarded player in the 2024 class. He’s also ranked No. 48 by ESPN, No. 64 by 247Sports and No. 83 by Rivals. Fellow 4-star Jared Harris remains Memphis’ only commit for 2024.

Givens, a former MUS star, currently plays for Montverde Academy (Fla.), where he hopes to become a bigger factor this season. He wasn’t featured much during his first campaign with the Eagles last year, averaging just 4 points and 2.2 assists in 14.7 minutes per game. To be fair, though, his lack of production had less to do with him and more so to do with of the talent surrounding him.

Montverde is one of the nation’s premier institutions for high school basketball, and enrolls a plethora of high-level players as a result. Last year, Givens played alongside 5-star juniors Derik Queen, Liam McNeely and 5-star sophomore Cooper Flagg, who is now a senior after reclassifying to 2024. Flagg is also the consensus top player in the country. All three will return to Montverde this season along with Givens.

The good news for Givens is that he had a fantastic Nike EYBL campaign during the summer, erasing many doubts some had after his lackluster year with the Eagles. He averaged 15.2 points and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 41.8% from the field and 30.6% from three-point range for Mokan Elite.

What’s Next for the Tigers in 2024 Recruiting?

With Givens now off the board, Memphis will now continue its full court press for its top 2024 target: 4-star wing Billy Richmond III.

A former star at East High in Memphis, Richmond currently plays for Camden High (N.J.), where he averaged 11.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season. He also showed out during this summer’s EYBL season for the NJ Scholars, averaging 15.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 55.7% from the field. On3’s Industry Ranking currently taps him as the No. 26 player in the country.

Richmond officially visited Memphis last weekend, and will take two more visits to Kansas and Alabama later this month. He’s also visited LSU and Kentucky.

Memphis and Kentucky are the assumed leaders for Richmond, with head coach John Calipari and the Wildcats being the favorites to land him as of now. Richmond’s father—who owns The Wing Guru, a popular chicken wing franchise in Memphis—played for Calipari from 2002-2004. Calipari coached the Tigers from 2000-2009.

It’d certainly disappointing for Memphis if it misses on both of the city’s highly-heralded, local 2024 prospects.