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SMU's tough July continues as sweet-shooting Matt McQuaid decommits

SMU's tough July continues as sweet-shooting Matt McQuaid decommits

Not even one week after elite point guard Emmanuel Mudiay opted to turn pro instead of enrolling at SMU, another promising recruit has parted ways with the Mustangs without ever playing in a game.

Matt McQuaid, one of the class of 2015's best shooters, has backed out of his May commitment to SMU and reopened his recruitment, Evan Daniels of Scout.com first reported. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Duncanville, Texas is rated Rivals.com's No. 87 recruit and holds offers from Creighton, Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas and Baylor, among others.

If the departure of Mudiay was a blow to SMU's chances of ascending to college basketball's upper echelon this season, the loss of McQuaid could hurt the Mustangs just as much in the longterm. Recruiting analysts have raved about McQuaid's catch-and-shoot prowess this spring and summer and have noted that he is making progress adding a dribble-drive dimension to his repertoire.

It's too soon to know which schools will emerge as the new favorites to land McQuaid but rest assured there will be a long list of suitors for his services. As for SMU, the Mustangs still project to have a fair amount of perimeter talent for the 2015-16 season, though they will miss McQuaid's shooting.

Starting point guard Nic Moore would be a senior that season and former elite recruit Keith Frazier would be a junior if he sticks around that long. Sedrick Barefield, a Class of 2015 point guard from Corona, Calif., is the heir apparent to Moore, while Virginia Tech transfer Ben Emelogu will also be a key addition to the perimeter rotation.

Still, that doesn't mean the losses of Mudiay and McQuaid don't sting.

A week ago, SMU figured to have the nation's top point guard prospect next season and one of the elite shooters starting the year after that. Now the Mustangs are scrambling because neither will ever play a game in an SMU jersey.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!