After a protracted and competitive recruiting process, Hawaii native JJ Mandaquit on Tuesday announced his commitment to play for the University of Washington men’s basketball team in 2025.

Mandaquit, a 6-foot-1 guard and four-star prospect, is a former Iolani School standout from Hilo and a senior at the Utah Prep Academy. He played for the U.S. junior national team the last two years, including winning a gold at the FIBA Under 17 World Cup this summer.

He made his announcement on Instagram in conjunction with ESPN’s SportsCenter Next account for high-profile recruits. Mandaquit is rated as the No. 47 prospect in ESPN’s Top 100 for the class of 2025.

Mandaquit is one of the highest-profile basketball recruits in Hawaii state history. He fielded a bevy of Division I offers and in recent days listed his final nine choices as UW, Hawaii, BYU, Louisville, Virginia, Tennessee, Creighton, USC and Cal.

“My goal is to show everyone that Hawaii has hoopers too. It’s to help the future generation,” Mandaquit said in a video accompanying his commitment to UW.

UW is coached by Danny Sprinkle, the 2023-24 Mountain West Coach of the Year who was hired away from Utah State in March after guiding the Aggies to an NCAA Tournament at-large appearance.

Mandaquit left Iolani after an accomplished freshman season to pursue greater competition and exposure opportunities on the mainland.

In October, Mandaquit signed with Roc Nation Sports last month for Name, Image and Likeness opportunities.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.