The Butler Bulldogs have put together one of the best recruiting classes in the country for the upcoming 2017 season. The ‘Dawgs have quite a few talented players coming in, but Chris Holtmann and Co. are still doing their due diligence for years beyond this coming season.

How’ve the ‘Dawgs been hitting the recruiting trail in April? Let’s take a look.

Offers

Elijah Weaver

Back on April 6, the Bulldogs extended a scholarship offer to Florida guard Elijah Weaver. Weaver is one of the best players in the 2018 class, let alone at his position and in the state of Florida. He ranks third in the Sunshine State behind power forwards Silvio De Sousa and Emmitt Williams, each of whom attend the famed IMG Academy.

As far as his position, the four-star point guard ranks in the Top 10 for 2018 point guards, checking in at eighth. He finds himself among the company of Jahvon Quinerly, Devon Dotson, Brandon Williams and Ja’Vonte Smart. And nationally, Elijah is the 33rd best player in the country per 247Sports’ recruiting services.

At the moment, Weaver’s Crystal Ball leans towards a Big East school, but not Butler. Instead, it’s Villanova who leads the way, but we’ll see how things play out. Long way to go, as they say.

Jeremiah Francis

Francis, a 2019 point guard, was offered back on April 14.

Like Weaver, Francis right now is a four-star point guard in the Class of 2019. Among his peers in the state of Ohio, Francis is the second-best player in the state behind four-star wing Jordan Mitchell. He’s the 28th-best point guard in the 2019 class and ranked within the Top 150 nationally at 131.

As of right now, Weaver holds a few offers from some Big Ten teams and the early gauge is that Ohio State may wind up being the place for him.

What Else?

Holtmann has also taken in games as early as Saturday. He’s watched Tim Finke, Rob Phinsee (another point guard) and Jordan Lathon.

What’s the story?

This, of course, is playing the really long game with 2018 and 2019 targets being in the equation and Butler will have to make sure that they do what they can at the point guard position. Jerald Butler comes in this year and they’ll also have Paul Jorgensen, but the cupboard is pretty empty otherwise.

So, it makes sense that Holtmann’s targets in the month of April were at this position. Staying on the attack to fill what will be a position of need from a depth perspective is the best thing BU can do, and it looks like they’re off to a hot start in doing so.