Ben Emelogu, a senior guard from South Grand Prairie High School in Grand Prairie, Texas, has verbally committed to Virginia Tech, his AAU coach said Sunday.

Al Johnson, coach of the Dallas Mustangs, said Tech will be able to use the 6-foot-5, 205-pound Emelogu at both guard positions and small forward, just as his AAU and high school teams do.

Johnson said Emelogu visited Tech and Texas Christian, and called off a visit to Washington. He committed yesterday, on his visit to Tech.

Johnson said that in addition to VT and TCU, his other scholarship offers were from Marquette, Washington, Texas Tech, Southern Methodist and Arizona State.

“He can really shoot. He’s a really strong, athletic kid,” Johnson said. “He has a high basketball I.Q. and he’s a great defender.

“He’ll bring the ball up the court [for his high school team], play point. They’ll run him off screens and flares. They’ll throw it to him on the wing. He’s a versatile guy.”

Johnson — no relation to Hokies coach James Johnson — said Emelogu picked Tech for the chance to compete for playing time as a freshman and because of James Johnson.

“James Johnson did an ouststanding job recruiting him,” Al Johnson said. “James did a great job of making the kid feel comfortable, understanding his vision for the program.”

He said “a lot of people don’t know” about Emelogu because he did not play during the college coaches’ July evaluation period after breaking his finger and thumb in May.

“He didn’t get most of those offers until people came back and watched him during the fall,” he said. “He’d have had more if he waited.”