Boys basketball: Highly recruited sophomore Gabe Sularski transferring from Benet to Lemont

Lemont coach Rick Runaas picked up one of the biggest wins of his career over the weekend.

And it wasn’t on the basketball court.

After playing the past two seasons for Benet, sophomore guard Gabe Sularski is transferring to Lemont. Sularski, a high-profile recruit and perhaps the top player in the state in the Class of 2026 with several Power Five Conference offers, was scheduled to attend classes at Lemont on Monday. Sularski’s family lives in Lemont, so he will be attending school in his home district.

The 6-foot-6 Sularski averaged 14 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in his sophomore season and was named to the East Suburban Catholic All-Conference team. He led Benet, which played three sophomores, to a 27-7 record, a share of the East Suburban Catholic Conference title and a regional championship.

Even Runaas couldn’t help but notice the irony in Sularski’s transfer, along with the timing, to Lemont. Three years ago, Lemont star guard Nojus Indrusaitis, who committed to Iowa State, transferred from Lemont to St. Rita after his sophomore year.

“[Gabe] is picking up where Nojus left off after his sophomore year,” Runaas said. “Gabe is coming in and now [we] get the two years back from Nojus.”

Lemont welcomes the addition of the highly recruited Sularski after losing two starters from last season’s 19-12 team that shared the South Suburban Blue Conference title with Hillcrest. Sularski joins two returning 6-foot-4 juniors in Alanas Castillo and Matas Gaidukevicius.

Sularski has offers from several high-profile colleges – Purdue, Tennessee, Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Northwestern.

Runaas said Sularski and his father met with him to iron out some details. Runaas said he never had an opportunity to watch Sularski play, but he recently watched some highlights.

“Obviously, we’re excited to get anybody with that kind of ability,” Runaas said. “We’re excited to get him into our school and get him comfortable between now and June [basketball]. He’s very versatile and can do a number of things on the court.”

Runaas also gave an update on his son’s recruiting. Ryan Runaas averaged 13.6 points, 4.3 assists and 2.4 rebounds in his senior season and was named the South Suburban Blue Conference Player of the Year.

“Ryan seems to be narrowing it down between some Division III options and junior colleges,” Runaas said.