In his brief one year plus tenure as the head coach of DePaul, Chris Holtmann has made some big splashes in the transfer portal. Now he is starting to do the same from the high school ranks. In each of the past two days, Holtmann and the Blue Demons have landed a prominent commitment from the 2026 class.
The first one came from Mason Lockett IV when he announced his commitment on Sunday. Lockett is a 6’4” guard of Oswego East High School (IL) and played with the Young & Reckless program. “After much though, prayer, and conversation, I’m blessed to announce my commitment to DePaul University to continue my athletic and academic career…” Lockett stated in his commitment post. He ranks among the top five prospects in Illinois’ 2026 class and chose DePaul over a lengthy list of offers. Lockett had also been offered by Bradley, Loyola Chicago, Minnesota, St. Louis, Xavier, among others. DePaul had initially offered him a year ago last August.
The next commitment came a day later on Monday from Noah Smith, a 6’8” wing forward of Plainfield High School (IL) and Grand Park Premier. The commitment from Smith comes just after the senior made his official visit to the Chicago campus this past weekend. Just like Lockett, Smith also had an impressive offer list. These came from Belmont, East Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma State, Xavier, among others.
The duo of Lockett and Smith bring DePaul’s 2026 recruiting class up to three already. They join 6’9” Andrew Jensen out of Wisconsin who recently made his commitment a couple weeks back ago in July.