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Matt Heldt needed just one trip to Marquette to know that's where he wanted to play college basketball. He wasn't going to wait for other schools to make their pitches.

After meeting head coach Steve Wojciechowski in late June and committing on July 1, Heldt, a 6-foot-10 center from Neenah, Wis., made his college choice official on Wednesday. He signed his National Letter of Intent during an event at Neenah High School, becoming the fourth of Wojciechowski's commits to put pen to paper on Wednesday.

"It feels good to have everything set in stone and ready to go," Heldt said in a phone interview with the Journal Sentinel Wednesday. "Ever since the first time I came down to visit I really liked (Wojciechowski). I believe in him as a coach and Marquette, I think, is a really great fit for me."

Heldt, a top-100 recruit according to multiple national outlets, entered the summer with a few offers, but expected to receive more after the AAU open evaluation period in July. Neenah head coach Scott Borks says schools like Northwestern, Wisconsin, Xavier and Minnesota wanted to take a closer look at Heldt.

They didn't get that chance. Shortly after arriving in Milwaukee, Wojciechowski and his staff targeted Heldt and went together to watch him play. A scholarship offer wasn't far behind.

"The first time I went down he offered me a scholarship and he talked to me about his vision for Marquette and how he thinks he could stay here for his whole career," Heldt said. "I wanted a good coach that believed in me and made me feel at home. Also, playing for a team that isn't selfish with guys that really know how to play basketball was another big thing for me."

Last season, Heldt averaged 18.2 points, 7.4 assists and 2.3 blocks. He was a first team all-state pick by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association and a second team all-state selection by the AP. Bork knows that Marquette is receiving a quality player and person, and credits some of Heldt's success to his work in the weight room.

"They're getting a great kid," Bork said. "He works extremely hard. He came here as a sophomore a little undersized physically, not height, but in the weight room. He got introduced to that and just took off in there and has just pushed himself to be the player that he is today.

"The upside that he has in front of him, I think is huge. I think he's not really close to where he's going to be — I think Marquette, they got a great deal here."

Marquette put out a press release once Heldt's signing became official Wednesday morning that featured Wojciechowski's first comments about his new center.

“We are thrilled with the addition of Matt to the Marquette family,” Wojciechowski said in the press release. “While Matt obviously adds much needed size to our program, he is also a versatile frontcourt player with a high basketball IQ and possesses a tremendous desire to improve in every area.

"He has been well prepared at the high school level and is a fundamentally sound post player. We believe he will have the ability to play both inside and out during his college career and that his best basketball is ahead of him.”

Recruiting in Wisconsin was a majority priority for Wojciechowski. Three of the top five high school players in Wisconsin — Nick Noskowiak, Henry Ellenson and Heldt — are in Marquette's recruiting class along with Florida guard Haanif Cheatham. The Golden Eagles' class of 2015 entered Wednesday as one of the top 10 in the country.

“All four of the young men in this class represent what we want in basketball players at Marquette,” Wojciechowski said. “They each have high character, are good students, and have a passion for the game of basketball. They come from great families and were raised with the right values and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome them to our family at Marquette.

"We look forward to each of them making an impact on the campus community, both as people and as players.”

Heldt has experience playing with and against Noskowiak and Ellenson. He and Noskowiak were AAU teammates after their sophomore years and have stayed close. Heldt took the court against Ellenson in a high school nonconference game last season and again during Ellenson's official visit to Marquette.

"(Ellenson) is very hard to guard because he's a 6-foot-9 shooting guard basically," Heldt said. "It's hard for centers to guard him. You can't really put a true center on him because he can just dribble right around. With his size if you put a guard on him he can just take it in the post. It's amazing to see the way he's developed his skills and how good he is."

When Heldt arrives on campus this summer, he hopes to hit the ground running and compete for minutes right away. He sees Marquette center and Germantown native Luke Fischer as someone he can learn from.

"With Luke Fischer being there, he's a guy who has experience that most players wouldn't have in transferring from Indiana and having to sit the first half of the year, so I think I can learn a lot from him about his experiences and it will help me become a better player," Heldt said. "Them being a little undersized this year does help. I'm looking forward to hopefully being able to get some playing time."