Category Archives: Recruiting Roundup

Duke targets make waves at NBPA Top 100 camp and U19 World Championship training camp

Posted on by
Leave a reply

The nation’s top high school talent converged on Charlottesville, Va. over the weekend for the 20th annual NBPA Top 100 camp, which featured three of Duke’s Class of 2014 recruits. Forward Kevon Looney was one of the weekend’s stars. The Milwaukee, Wis. native impressed on both ends of the floor, as the 6-foot-8 forward showed off his ability as an inside presence and a dominant shot blocker. Take a look at some of Looney’s highlights from the showcase:

Looney’s play drew the attention of ESPN Senior Recruiting Analyst Dave Telep, who was on hand.

After allowing his parents to correspond with coaches, it appears Looney—the No. 9 player in the Class of 2014 according to ESPN—is starting to take control of his recruiting process. Looney has yet to cut his list of schools, but Rivals ACC Recruiting Analyst Clint Jackson tweeted that when he spoke to Looney, the forward mentioned Duke, Florida, Michigan, Michigan State, Tennessee and Georgetown among his suitors.

Looney was named to the camp’s All-Star team along with fellow Duke target Devin Booker. A 6-foot-5 guard, Booker is rated the No. 16 player in the Class of 2014 by ESPN. But Booker suffered a high ankle sprain on the second day of the showcase, ending his weekend early.

In addition to showing off his skills on the court, Booker used some of his free time to go 1-on-1 with one of the showcase’s coaches, NBA veteran Andre Iguodala. Playing against one of the NBA’s top defenders, Booker showed off stepback jumper.

As Booker’s recruiting process continues to heat up, it appears he may be taking a trip to Ann Arbor soon for an official visit at Michigan.

Duke commit Grayson Allen was also on hand, impressing the scouts with both his athleticism and leadership on the floor.

As the weekend wore on in Charlottesville, coaches across the country were allowed unrestricted communication via phone call and text message with Class of 2015 recruits for the first time.

Jackson said one of Duke’s first calls was to 7-footer Stephen Zimmerman, a center from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, the same program that produced Shabazz Muhammad, a former Blue Devil target who will likely be a lottery pick in next week’s NBA Draft.

On the other side of the country, Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow competed alongside Duke sophomore Rasheed Sulaimon at the USA Basketball Men’s U19 World Championship training camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. Suiting up against a number of players who already had a year of college experience presented a challenge for Okafor and Winslow, but it was one that the highly-touted rising seniors would rise to meet.

Both Okafor—the No. 1 player in the Class of 2014 according to ESPN—and Winslow—ranked 15th—were among the 16 finalists to represent the United States in next month’s U19 World Championship. Sulaimon was named a finalist as well.

Sulaimon and Winslow are both Houston natives and were teammates on the AAU circuit with Houston Hoops. Winslow’s connection with Sulaimon—coupled with Sulaimon’s stellar freshman campaign—is an intriguing backstory to the 6-foot-5 forward’s recruitment.

Okafor’s desire to play alongside top-rated point guard Tyus Jones in college is one of the worst kept secrets in this year’s recruiting cycle. But recent speculation that Winslow may want to jump in on this recruiting class’ most prestigious package could be legitimate. In an interview with Adam Zagoria last weekend, Winslow said that playing in college with Okafor and Jones is “something [they] talk about.”

Although both Okafor and Winslow added that their college choices would ultimately serve their own best interest and nobody else’s, Winslow’s addition to this package would turn college basketball’s biggest recruiting sweepstakes into some sort of mega-millions jackpot. Baylor, Duke and Kansas are the only three schools that remain on Okafor, Jones and Winslow’s lists.

Elijah Thomas steps into the spotlight, field potentially narrowing for top 2014 prospects

Posted on by
Leave a reply

The recruiting race has heated up for Class of 2015 forward Elijah Thomas. The 6-foot-9 Dallas native has impressed the nation’s top scouts on the summer circuit and heads into the year ranked No. 6  in the Class of 2015 by ESPN.com.

Thomas has begun to plan his unofficial visits, and will reportedly travel to Stillwater, Okla. this weekend to visit Oklahoma State.

Although Thomas is yet to announce any of his unofficial visit locations or dates, it appears a visit to Durham may be on the horizon in the not so distant future.

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has yet to offer a scholarship to a member of the Class of 2015, but it is widely speculated that Thomas could be the first. Thomas already has built a nice relationship with the Blue Devils’ first Class of 2014 commit, guard Grayson Allen, on the AAU circuit, which could bode well for Duke’s chances in Thomas’ recruitment down the road.

But still very early in Thomas’ recruitment, the field remains wide open for his services, and suitors should include a bevy of top programs.

In what was a relatively slow week on the recruiting circuit, it was activity in Columbus, Ohio that may have had the biggest impact on Duke’s quest to build its 2014 recruiting class.

Ohio State picked up its fourth verbal commitment of the Class of 2014 when 6-foot-4 shooting guard D’Angelo Russell pledged to play for head coach Thad Matta. The Montverde, Fla. native is pegged as the No. 22 player in his class by Rivals and turned down offers from Louisville, Michigan State and North Carolina to play for the Buckeyes.

Although Russell was not on Duke’s radar, his commitment is a significant one because Ohio State is one of six schools that are still in the running to land center Jahlil Okafor and point guard Tyus Jones, the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked players by ESPN.com, respectively. Okafor and Jones have often contended that they would like to attend the same school, but Russell’s commitment to Ohio State clogs the Buckeye backcourt for 2014 and could hurt their chances of landing the prized duo.

Ohio State’s staff will now turn its focus to Okafor’s recruitment, a task that Russell told ESPN.com he will play a key role in as well.

The Ohio State staff now can turn its attention to landing a much-needed big man, and the focus will be on the No. 1 player in the ESPN 60, Jahlil Okafor, a 6-10, 265-pound center out of Chicago Whitney Young High School. Russell plans on helping the Buckeyes get Okafor.

“I feel I can help the coaches landing a big man. I understand them and know how to play with them,” he said.

The Buckeyes are by no means out of the running to land Okafor or Jones, but ESPN Senior National Recruiting Analyst Dave Telep said he believes that Russell’s commitment could certainly hurt Ohio State’s chances to land either of them. Although Okafor’s recruitment is not directly affected by Russell’s commitment, the chances that Jones—Okafor’s partner in crime—ends up in Columbus may have diminished in the past week.

If Ohio State were to fade to the background, that would leave just Baylor, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan as the five schools that remain in contention for both Okafor and Jones.

Winslow visits during K Academy, a look at the 2014 big three

Posted on by
2 Replies

Five-star 2014 recruit Justise Winslow visited Duke this weekend while the annual K Academy went out with a host of current and former Duke basketball players in town.

Though visiting during the summer doesn’t always do a school justice (get it?), can you think of a better time to visit than during the K Academy, when not only current players are in town, but also guys like Kyrie Irving, Gerald Henderson, Mike Dunleavy, just to name a few?

Winslow, a 6-foot-5 small forward and the No. 10 player in the class of 2014 according to ESPN, is still considering 10 schools: Arizona, Baylor, Duke, Florida, Houston, Kansas, North Carolina, Stanford, Texas A&M and UCLA. Winslow went to UCLA after visiting Duke Sunday.

If you’re a VIP at BlueDevilLair (you can get a free trial for the summer), you can read a great Q&A with Winslow.

Winslow is close friends with Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones, the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the class of 2014.

Woke up to me and My brothers @tyusjones06 @jahprobound on the front page of ESPN. #LaFamilia

Okafor and Jones have regularly stated their intention to play college ball together, and it’s possible Winslow joins that crew.

Last week, Okafor trimmed his list to eight schools while Jones’ list is down to seven.

ESPN Insider recruiting analyst Dave Telep has a good breakdown of the three and their lists of schools.

Baylor, Duke and Kansas are the only three schools on all three lists. Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio State made Okafor and Jones’ but not Winslow’s.

Telep adds, “A reasonable assumption could be formed that if the trio went together, you could handicap the race with Duke in the lead, Kansas in the No. 2 spot and Baylor third.”

If you want to read more from Okafor, he expanded on his list on his USA Today blog. He says a bunch of interesting things in the post, but one thing potentially worth noting is that he talks about how much he loves North Carolina despite leaving it off his list:

Obviously, I’ve left a lot of quality schools off my list.

To be honest, I didn’t want to make a list because I knew it would be impossible with all the great schools recruiting me. But I knew it was something I had to do.

Like North Carolina; they were my favorite school growing up but I had to cut them.

I pretty much knew in my mind that I wasn’t going there. They were recruiting me pretty hard but they backed off of me a little with them getting a great point guard in Joel (Berry) and everyone knowing that me and Tyus (Jones) are playing together in college.

I guess they felt like that wasn’t gonna happen. But I still love North Carolina.

Looking ahead to the class of 2015, a name to keep an eye out on could be power forward Elijah Thomas, currently the No. 6 player in the class. At 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds, Thomas has the tools to develop into an elite post player.

He has offers from a number of top programs, though Duke has not yet issued any 2015 offers yet.

Pinson to announce Wednesday, Okafor notes

Posted on by
1 Reply

Class of 2014 commitments are heating up with Theo Pinson expected to announce his decision Wednesday at 12:15 p.m.

Pinson, the No. 13 player in the class according to ESPN, is considering Duke, Georgetown, Indiana, Louisville and North Carolina. Pinson attends Wesleyan Christian Academy in North Carolina, so Duke and North Carolina were thought to be the early frontrunners for his services. But Indiana appears to be the consensus favorite going into the announcement.

Pinson has visited Duke unofficially many times throughout his high school career. Pinson and high school teammate Harry Giles, a member of the class of 2016 and perhaps the top player in his year, were at Cameron Indoor Stadium for this year’s Duke-North Carolina game, a 73-68 comeback win for the Blue Devils. Giles is also a Duke target, though he is a freshman and does not yet hold an official offer. The Duke staff, however, has been keeping close tabs on the 6-foot-8 forward.

Pinson was also in town for this year’s Countdown to Craziness with fellow 2014 Duke targets Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor, who remain Duke’s top targets in that class.

With guard Grayson Allen already in the fold for Duke in 2014, Pinson—a 6-foot-6 wing player—appears to be less of a priority. Though last week it was inaccurately reported that Pinson cut Duke from his list of schools, it would be a surprise if he decided to pick the Blue Devils at this point.

Theo Pinson, at the right, poses for photo with Jahlil Okafor, left, and Tyus Jones, next to Pinson, at Duke's Countdown to Craziness in October. (Photo credit: Brady Buck/The Chronicle)

Theo Pinson, at the right, poses for photo with Jahlil Okafor, left, and Tyus Jones, next to Pinson, at Duke’s Countdown to Craziness in October. (Photo credit: Brady Buck/The Chronicle)

The other 2014 commits who already have offers from Duke in addition to Pinson and Allen: Okafor, Jones, Devin Booker, Kevin Looney, Trey Lyles and Justise Winslow.

Okafor, a 6-foot-10 center ranked No. 1 in the class, recently opened up for his USA Today blog. The schools in the mix for Okafor are Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State and Ohio State.

In regards to Kansas, Okafor wrote about liking Andrew Wiggins decision to go there, dispelling the notion that Kansas isn’t a school for one-and-done players.

Okafor also says he has heard from Kentucky and head coach John Calipari a lot lately. He added this on his talks with Coach Cal:

 Then he was telling me about how he gets disrespected by a lot of the other coaches in recruiting, which is actually true because I’ve heard a few things myself.

He really explained a lot to me and I learned a lot.

He also had very favorable things to say about his talks with the Duke basketball staff:

Coach (Mike) K (Krzyzewski) texted me on Sunday on Mother’s Day and that meant a lot to me because he was checking on me because he knows that my mother passed. I thought that was really cool of him.

All of the coaches at Duke hit me up; Coach (Jeff) Capel and Coach (Steve) Wojo.

In case you missed it… 

Coach K and Wojo scout for Duke basketball at the Nike EYBL

Posted on by
Leave a reply

For the second-straight weekend, Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski and assistant Steve Wojciechowski were watching recruits. Hampton, Va. played host to most of the Blue Devil targets in the class of 2014 and 2015 for the second session of the Nike EYBL.

Continuing his lengthy courtship of Tyus Jones, Krzyzewski watched every single one of the Minnesota floor general’s games in Hampton. The top-ranked point guard in 2014 averaged 23.8 points and 7.4 assists per game.

It’s hard to poke a hole in Jones’ game. He is a do-it-all floor general who can take over games by scoring and facilitating. He took over a game versus Playground Elite by hitting two clutch three-pointers back-to-back in overtime, which allowed his Howard Pulley AAU team to come out with a win.

Jones spoke with the Chronicle on Saturday about his recent in-home visit with Duke, where his recruitment stands and the possibility of playing with Quinn Cook.

Firmly committed to playing with Jones at the college level, elite big man Jahlil Okafor did not play due to an ankle injury. Regardless, high major head coaches flocked to Okafor’s games to show him support while he was on the bench cheering on his Mac Irvin Fire AAU team.

The 6-foot-10 big man from Chicago updated the Chronicle on the latest with his college decision process.

A friend of current Duke guard Rasheed Sulaimon, top-flight swingman Justise Winslow drew a staunch following from a bevy of elite programs in Hampton, including Duke, which watched every single one of his games. The Houston, Tex. product—an athletic and versatile wing player who plays a fair amount of point forward for his AAU team—unofficially visited Duke for the Miami game.

Winslow was among the top performers at the event, scoring, dishing out assists and playing with intensity. He also reflected on Duke’s pursuit of him in an interview with the Chronicle.

One name to watch out for in the future is Austin Grandstaff, a junior from Rockwall, Tex. The 6-foot-5 combo guard has received mild interest from Duke, however, that could change after his 25 point outburst Sunday morning in front of the Blue Devil coaching staff.

Grandstaff plays on Texas Elite with fellow 2015 Duke recruit Elijah Thomas, who is a bruising 6-foot-9 big man and seemingly in contention to receive a scholarship offer from Duke.

Like the 2014 targets, Grandstaff talked about his recruitment Saturday.

The Duke fan base and college basketball world has gotten more and more familiar with 2016 star Harry Giles over the course of this year. Now, his recruitment is really taking off. The 6-foot-9 North Carolinian already holds a scholarship offer from North Carolina, which marks the first time head coach Roy Williams has offered a player as young as Giles.

The Blue Devil coaching staff has not yet offered the versatile and advanced power forward, however, it has shown serious interest by hosting Giles on campus several times this year for unofficial visits. Krzyzewski made watching the 14-year old a big priority this weekend, attending all three of Giles’ games with CP3, which is a rarity for a player so young to draw so much attention.

Dynamic 2014 combo guard Grayson Allen, who committed to Duke last week, did not make the trip to Hampton due to an injury that adversely affected his play last weekend in Los Angeles.

Fellow 2014 guards Devin Booker and Theo Pinson both have Duke scholarship offers too. The two drew a Duke coach to most of their contests in Hampton. The addition of Allen to the program for 2014 makes it less clear where Duke stands in Booker’s and Pinson’s recruitments given the overlap in positions. And notably, Kentucky offered Booker a scholarship last week, which could shake up his recruitment.

Combo forward Kevon Looney is the only 2014 Duke recruit that holds an offer not playing on the Nike EYBL circuit. The 6-foot-7 Milwaukee product played in Arkansas with his AAU team.

Turning the attention to the Tarik Black sweepstakes, Duke looks to be in the hunt to land the big man transfer from Memphis, who would be immediately eligible to play in 2013-14.

Duke basketball coaches watch numerous recruits during the first live April evaluation period

Posted on by
Leave a reply

The Duke basketball recruiting frenzy is back in full swing.

Following the team’s banquet Friday night in Durham, the Blue Devil coaching staff hit the road recruiting for the first live April evaluation period.

The first session of the Nike EYBL in Los Angeles had the largest contingent of Duke prospects.

Here is a breakdown by class of the players that head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff saw over the weekend along with their statistics across the four games played in Los Angeles.

2014 point guard Tyus Jones, Howard Pulley Panthers (offered): 20 points, eight assists and three rebounds per game.

2014 center Jahlil Okafor, Mac Irvin Fire (offered): Did not play with due to an ankle sprain.

2014 wing Justise Winslow, Houston Hoops (offered): 14.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals.

2014 forward Trey Lyles, Spiece Indy Heat (offered): Did not play

2014 combo guard Grayson Allen of the Southern Stampede (offered): 9.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

2014 wing Theo Pinson, CP3 All Stars (offered): 12.3 points, 1.5 assists and 6.5 rebounds per game.

2015 center Elijah Thomas, Team Texas (no offer): 16.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2 assists per game.

Away from Southern California, the Blue Devil coaching staff closely tracked two coveted prospects from Wisconsin: Kevin Looney (2014) and Diamond Stone, who is the No. 1 player in the class of 2015.

Krzyzewski will be in Milwaukee Wednesday to conduct an in-home visit with Looney, who is a versatile 6-foot-7 forward and is ESPN’s No. 7 overall player in the class of 2014.

Duke is among a host of schools to make contact with Rutgers transfer Eli Carter, according to Adam Zagoria. Carter is a 6-foot-2 guard that averaged 14.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game before sustaining a season-ending injury in February.

Class of 2013 commit Jabari Parker capped off his brilliant prep career last Saturday night at the Nike Hoops Summit in Portland, Ore. The 6-foot-8 hybrid forward finished with a team-high 22 points in a losing effort to the World team.

Here are some highlights of the game:

Class of 2016 standout forward Harry Giles—a talented 6-foot-9 North Carolina native—promises to be one of the most heavily recruited players in the country over the course of the next several years. This weekend news surfaced that North Carolina has officially offered the 14-year old a scholarship, which is the first time that Tar Heel head coach Roy Williams has extended an offer to a player this young.

Expect Duke to make the same move in the near future as Giles appears to be one of the better basketball prospects to come along in recent years.

The Blue Devil coaching staff will be out and about again this weekend for another evaluation period.

Hampton, Virginia will play host to the second session of the Nike EYBL this weekend.