On Sunday, John Poulakidas announced his commitment to Yale University and head coach James Jones on twitter. Poulakidas is a 6’5” senior wing guard at Neuqua Valley High School (IL).

Poulakidas was one of the most sought after 2021 prospects in Illinois having picked Yale over scholarship offers from over ten schools, including ones from ACC, Big East, Big Ten, and Big Twelve schools. His offer list included Butler, George Washington, Minnesota, Rutgers, St. Louis, TCU, Wake Forest, among others.

In his commitment post, Poulakidas wrote “I would like to thank all of the coaches that recruited me. I have developed great relationships with many of them which in turn has made this process exceptionally difficult, yet enjoyable. I wish nothing but success for them and their programs. With that being said, it is after much thought and prayer that I am thrilled an announce my commitment to Yale University and its admission process!” 

Poulakidas is a skilled scorer who can score the ball from all three levels. He has good size at 6’5” with a very good shooting stroke from the outside. He marks a trend of 2021 prospects from Illinois choosing Ivy league schools as Louis Lesmond has committed to Harvard and Blake Peters has picked Princeton. 

Yale is coming off a successful 23-7 season with an impressive 11-3 mark in the Ivy League before the end of the season. Poulikidas is the second commitment in the Bulldogs 2021 recruitment class. He joins Jack Molloy, a 6’7” forward The Hotchkiss School (CT).