LMU Lands Local Wing Elijah Stewart
By Josh Horton

March 6, 2013; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Loyola Marymount Lions mascot performs against the Portland Pilots during the first half of the WCC Basketball Championships at Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
What a crazy weekend it has been for LMU basketball recruiting. For those that weren’t following it as intensely as we were, here is a brief recap of the events.
On September 19th, Kevin Cacabelos of Loyolan Sports tweeted that LMU could potentially land a few commitments from the weekend:
LMU men's basketball might be getting a few commitments this weekend per a source.
— Kevin (@kcposports) September 19, 2013
Then late on Sunday night, this was tweeted out:
Commitment news coming soon!
— IRONLION (@LMUBASKETBALL) September 23, 2013
After that, West Coast Convo did some investigating, and found that Westminster HS (Los Angeles, Calf.) wing Elijah Stewart committed to LMU:
Cannot Completely Confirm this, but it looks like Westminster HS (CA) SF Elijah Stewart (@lou_weezy_ana) has committed to #LMU
— West Coast Convo (@WestCoastConvo) September 23, 2013
This was later confirmed by a few twitter sources:
Elijah Stewart 6-5 wing from Westchester HS has committed to LMU per a source.
— IRONLION (@LMUBASKETBALL) September 23, 2013
Stewart (6-5, 165 lbs) becomes the second member of the Lions 2014 class, joining guard Alex Rifkind. He picked up an offer from LMU on September 20th, and committed two days later. Stewart had no other offers, according to the recruiting services. Apparently there was something about LMU that stood out to Stewart, and convinced him to commit subsequently after receiving a scholarship offer.
Stewart has flown under-the-radar, but according to scouting reports he is a phenomenal athlete. ESPN has this to say about him: “Stewart is a sleeper at this stage out west, but he has some physical intangibles that are intriguing for the next level.” In that same report, it claims that Stewarts needs work on the consistency of his jump shot. On top of that, Stewart is a little weak and needs to gain strength. Although these two aspects are crucial for success in the WCC, they can easily be improved with hard work. That being said, Stewart could be a prime candidate to redshirt upon coming to LMU.