Matt Velazquez

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski and his staff scored a recruiting victory Tuesday as power forward Theo John committed to join the Golden Eagles’ 2017 recruiting class.

The 6-foot-8, 210-pound high school senior from Champlin Park, Minn., chose Marquette over staying in state and playing for the Golden Gophers. He made his announcement at 5 p.m. Tuesday evening, alongside his high school teammate McKinley Wright, who announced he will play at Dayton.

John had visited both Marquette and Minnesota in the past two weeks, stopping in Milwaukee from Sept. 2-4 and taking his final official visit to Minnesota this past weekend. The Golden Eagles and Golden Gophers were two of the first schools to offer John scholarships, with Marquette extending its offer in May 2015.

John took to Twitter shortly after making his announcement to say he was proud to join the Golden Eagles.

"I believe Marquette is the best fit for me," John shared in a photo that was part of his tweet. "Over the past year and a half I have developed a great relationship with their coaching staff as they have believed in me since the beginning. I do want to thank the other great coaches who spent countless hours recruiting me through this process.

"This was a difficult decision but it's the right decision for me and I couldn't be more excited to be a Golden Eagle. I have worked very hard for this opportunity and I don't take this for granted. I am humbled to see that the countless hours in the gym have paid off but this is only just the beginning. I want to thank all my teammates, coaches and friends who believed in me and helped me get to the position I am in today."

John, who spoke to the Journal Sentinel last week following his visit to Marquette, is the Golden Eagles' second commit for the 2017 recruiting class. He joins Ikechukwu Eke, a 6-foot-9 power forward from University of Detroit Jesuit High School in Michigan.

If John and Eke follow through with their commitments and sign with Marquette as expected when the signing period opens Nov. 9, the Golden Eagles will have two open scholarships remaining for the 2017-'18 season.