2017 point guard Wabissa Bede chooses Virginia Tech over Butler

The Butler Bulldogs pursuit of 2017 point guard Wabissa Bede is over as the Massachusetts native has elected to commit to the Virginia Tech Hokies.

Bede made his announcement on Wednesday afternoon that he would be joining former Marquette Golden Eagles head coach Buzz Williams in Blacksburg next fall. Butler had been pursuing the No. 3 player in the state of Massachusetts for quite some time now but VaTech’s late surge of late made a major impact and wound up being the difference maker.

Wabissa Bede is the second commit for Virginia Tech in their Class of 2017 as he joins four-star shooting guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Chattanooga, Tennessee. They now have the fourth-best class in the ACC as they leapfrog Florida State and Pittsburgh and fall just shy of third-place Louisville. Additionally they go from 45th in the country to 18th as they edge out California who had previously held that spot before Bede’s commitment.

Along with Butler and VaTech, Bede had weeded his choices down to LaSalle, UMass and Minnesota as well.

The Bulldogs certainly could have benefited from a player of Bede’s services in their loaded recruiting class that is currently in the Top 10 in the country and No. 1 in the Big East Conference. The commitment of point guard Jerald Butler certainly softens the blow of missing out on Bede though. The chances of landing Bede were decreasing lately despite early returns suggesting he might make his way towards Indy.

So it goes, and Chris Holtmann will now instead have to look elsewhere to fill out his 2017 class. Per VerbalCommits, they have one more spot open in 2017.

Best of luck to Wabissa Bede in Blacksburg!