Tag Archives: Semi Ojeleye

Duke commit Semi Ojeleye named Parade Magazine’s Boys Basketball Player of the Year

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Semi Ojeleye is bringing in accolades even before starting his freshman season with the Blue Devils.

Semi Ojeleye was named Parade Magazine's Boy Basketball Player of the Year. (Photo Credit: Andrew Beaton/Chronicle File Photo)

Semi Ojeleye was named Parade Magazine’s Boy Basketball Player of the Year. (Andrew Beaton/Chronicle File Photo)

Parade Magazine gave out its 57th annual Boys Basketball Player of the Year award this week, and Ojeleye was its choice. The Ottawa, Kan. native beat out Kansas commits Andrew Wiggins and Conner Frankamp, Oklahoma State commit Stevie Clark and Arizona signee Andrew Gordon.

Ojeleye averaged more than 38 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals per game during his senior year at Ottawa High School, leading the Cyclones to a perfect 25-0 record and a state title.

The magazine lauds both Ojeleye’s considerable talent on the court as well as his talent in the classroom, saying that the 6-foot-6 forward—who is also valedictorian of his high school class—could be “the most impressive winner yet.”

This year, Ojeleye was one of the nation’s most prolific prep scorers, averaging more than 38 points per game for Ottawa High School, located just outside of Kansas City in the basketball-crazy state of Kansas. The 6-foot-6 small forward has signed a letter of intent with Duke—his 4.0 grade-point average and membership in the National Honor Society making him a nice fit at a school known for its blend of academics and basketball excellence.

Duke associate head coach Steve Wojciechowski tweeted out his congratulations to the Blue Devil to be.

Ojeleye will compete for frontcourt time with Josh Hairston, Amile Jefferson, Alex Murphy and fellow freshman Jabari Parker throughout the 2013-14 season.

2014 wing Justise Winslow expected to attend Duke-Miami

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For the third week in a row, the Duke coaching staff will host one of the top players in the class of 2014 for an unofficial visit.

Justise Winslow—the No. 10 overall player in the class of 2014, according to ESPN—will make the trip to Durham to watch the Blue Devils square off against ACC-leading Miami on Saturday, according to a tweet by Clint Jackson, a recruiting analyst for Devils Illustrated and Tar Heel Illustrated.

At 6-foot-5 and 208 pounds, Winslow is a physical specimen on the hardwood. He’s praised for his athleticism, versatility and ability to guard numerous positions. A left-handed slasher, Winslow’s game and build is similar to former Duke target and current UCLA Bruin Shabazz Muhammad.

A host of high-major programs are pursuing Winslow, including Arizona, UCLA, Kentucky, Texas, Baylor, Florida, Kansas and Duke, among many others.

Here are some highlights of Winslow on the AAU circuit this summer:

Hailing from the Houston, Tex. area, Winslow plays for the Houston Hoops AAU team, which is the same squad that current Blue Devil guard Rasheed Sulaimon played on while he was in high school. Needless to say, there is already some familiarity between the two parties.

Winslow is one of seven prospects in the junior class that hold scholarship offers from head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Devin Booker sits adjacent to the Duke bench during the Boston College. He was offered a scholarship after the game, according to his Twitter. (Photo Credit: Ella Banka/The Chronicle)

Shooting guard Devin Booker became the most recent player in 2014 to receive a scholarship, as reported Sunday night.

In his first game of the 4A Kansas state playoffs, 2013 Duke signee Semi Ojeleye netted 42 points on Monday night as his team—Ottawa High School—rolled to an easy 90-38 victory.

Blue Devil commit Jabari Parker and his Simeon high school team (Chicago) are set to begin their quest to win a fourth-consecutive state championship soon. A recent article by Michael O’Brien of The Chicago Sun Times talks about Parker’s season. The article features quotes from the 6-foot-8 swingman, who is the No. 2 ranked player in the class of 2013.

Duke signee Semi Ojeleye breaks all-time Kansas scoring record

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Class of 2013 Blue Devil signee Semi Ojeleye made history Tuesday night, becoming the state of Kansas’ all-time leading scorer.

Ojeleye passed the previous record of 2,554 career-points with a made free throw at the 2:05 mark of the third quarter against Eduora.

Josh Reid of Brewster, Kan. had held the all-time scoring record since 1996, and nobody, until Ojeleye, had come close to breaking the mark.

Here is footage of Ojeleye breaking the record:

The chiseled 6-foot-7 wing scored 26 points as his team, Ottawa High School (Ottawa, Kan.), rolled to a 65-27 victory.

The Cyclones are undefeated at 19-0 and are the top-ranked team in the 4A classification.

Despite his remarkable senior campaign with an average scoring output of over 40 points per game, Ojeleye was not selected to participate in the McDonald’s All-American game or the Jordan Brand Classic game.

Ojeleye is the No. 36 ranked player in the class of 2013, according to ESPN.

Forward Jabari Parker—the No. 2 player in the class of 2013—and Matt Jones, a sharpshooting 6-foot-4 shooting guard, will join Ojeleye in Durham next season as head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s next crop of freshmen.

Duke’s 2013 recruiting class is rated as the No. 2 class in the country by Scout.com.

2014 guard Devin Booker to unofficially visit Duke this weekend

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After hosting Theo Pinson and Harry Giles last week for the North Carolina game, the Duke basketball coaching staff will host another prospect this week as 2014 shooting guard Devin Booker comes to Durham for an unofficial visit.

Booker—a 6-foot-4 sharpshooter that hails from Moss Point, Miss.—is the No. 19 player overall in the class of 2014, according to ESPN.

Booker is a prospect who has seen his recruitment pick up considerably over the past few months. More and more schools are joining the party as his stock continues to rise during his junior campaign.

Many expect Booker to receive a scholarship offer from head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff during the visit.

While in the Triangle area this weekend, Booker will unofficially visit North Carolina too.

Here are some highlights of Booker on the AAU circuit over the summer:

The rosters for the 2013 McDonald’s All-American game were released last week. Duke recruits Jabari Parker and Matt Jones will suit up for the West team on April 3 in Chicago. The prestigious high school all-star game takes place in Parker’s hometown. The future Duke wing talked about the McDonald’s All-American game on ESPN last week.

Jones and Parker were also selected to play in the Jordan Brand All-Star game on April 13 in Brooklyn, New York.

The Blue Devil coaching staff’s third recruit in 2013—swingman Semi Ojeleye—did not receive an invitation to play in either all-star game. The 6-foot-7 forward, however, is chasing history: the all-time career scoring mark of 2,554 points  in the state of Kansas.

After scoring 20 points over the weekend, Ojeleye is just 18 points away from the record.

Duke target Tyus Jones—the No. 1 point guard in the class of 2014—will take an unofficial visit to Kansas this weekend.

In other recruiting news: The college basketball world continues to attentively follow the escalating recruitment of Andrew Wiggins—the No. 1 player in the class of 2013.

A tremendously gifted 6-foot-7 athlete, Wiggins’ recruitment has huge implications for college basketball. He recently trimmed his list of schools down to four: Florida State, Kentucky, North Carolina and Kansas.

Wiggins will take his official visit to North Carolina on March 9, when the Tar Heels host Duke.

Duke basketball in Trey Lyles’ list of top-six schools

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Trey Lyles—the No. 5 player in the class of 2014 according to ESPN—is down to six schools: Duke, Butler, Florida, Kentucky, Louisville and UCLA. The prevailing feeling recently is that Lyles, a versatile and polished 6-foot-10 combo forward, has been a Kentucky lean ever since he decommitted from Indiana last year.

The Blue Devils, however, seem to be gaining momentum in the Lyles sweepstakes. Wildcat head coach John Calipari already has a commitment from Karl Towns in the class of 2014, who is a very similar player to Lyles. Furthermore, Cliff Alexander—a bruising 6-foot-9, 240-pound big man—is also rumored to be favoring Kentucky.

The potential logjam in the post at Kentucky has perhaps helped tip the scales more in Duke’s favor as of late, though, there is still a long ways to go in the recruitment. Look for Lyles to try and take visit to Durham in the coming months.

Jabari Parker—the prize of Duke’s 2013 recruiting class—finished with 13 points,14 rebounds and two blocks in a 59-49 Simeon win last week.

Dave Telep—ESPN’s lead college basketball recruiting analyst—weighed in on Parker’s return to prime form in an interview with the Chronicle:

“He basically fell flat on his face against Matt Jones in national television game in December. He was out of shape and not helping his team if you can imagine that. He had about five weeks to get it together because he was playing on ESPN again. This kid literally lost 30 pounds…It was truly spectacular. He didn’t only get better, but you could just see Simeon’s confidence and continuity grow.”

“I am just taken back by his feel for the game and his skill. If you go back and look at the tape against Oak Hall at the Hoop Hall, a minute into the contest he throws back a tip dunk that literally four weeks ago was a rebound and a below-the-rim lay in. [Coming back from injury] is a lot harder to do than people realize, and he has done it.”

Parker’s future teammate, Semi Ojeleye, is on pace to break the all-time Kansas state career scoring record of 2,554 points. The 6-foot-7 wing is just 90 points away from breaking the record. He’s averaging a gaudy 41 points per game and nine rebounds.

Here’s a recent highlight of Ojeleye showing off his athleticism on an alley-oop.

Telep also discussed Ojeleye:

“The level of competition is what it is: He’s in Kansas and its not very good. His numbers and efficiency numbers, however, have been good though. He has shot the ball exceptionally well. I think it’s important that he’s getting comfortable being the man with the attention being casted on him every night in his home state.”

“I think the biggest problem that Semi might have is the competition for minutes at Duke. He’s going to be facing a competition for available playing time. It’s going to be difficult to get playing time on the perimeter [as a freshman].”

Scout releases new rankings; Duke commits continue to shine

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Scout.com’s latest version of the class of 2013 player rankings were released last week.

Jabari Parker headlines the trio of Duke 2013 commits—which ranks as the No. 2 recruiting class overall—and he holds his spot at No. 2 overall in the class. The 6-foot-9 swingman still sits behind uncommitted small forward Andrew Wiggins, who is considering Kentucky, Florida State, North Carolina and Kansas.

Getting closer to prime form as the season wears on, Parker finished with 23 points and five rebounds for Simeon (19-2) in an easy 80-33 win over Coronado (Nev.) this past weekend.

Matt Jones sits at the No. 24 overall spot in the class, while 6-foot-6 wing Semi Ojeleye is right behind him at No. 25. The sharpshooting Jones—a 6-foot-4 off-ball guard—is the No. 3 shooting guard in the class and arguably the best shooter in the entire class.

The powerfully built and versatile Ojeleye— an Ottawa, Kan. native—is the seventh-ranked small forward in the class.

Ojeleye continues to play superbly as his Ottawa team remains unbeaten on the year. The most recent case of Ojeleye’s dominance took place Jan. 29 as he scored 40 points in just three quarters.

Here are some recent highlights of Ojeleye (No. 33 in red):

2014 Duke target Tyus Jones went off for 40 points over the weekend to help his Apple Valley (Minn.) team get a win.

Fellow junior Blue Devil recruit Theo Pinson was in Bloomington, Ind. over the weekend for an official visit to Indiana. The dynamic 6-foot-5 wing from nearby High Point, N.C. experienced ESPN’s College Gameday, as well as perhaps the best college basketball game this season. No. 3 Indiana earned a hard-fought win over No. 1 Michigan in front of an electric crowd at Assembly Hall.

In addition to the surging Hoosiers, North Carolina, Duke and N.C. State are thought to be strong contenders in the Pinson sweepstakes also.

Per a tweet by Garrett Tucker of Future150, the Blue Devil coaching staff is expressing interest in 2015 center Stephen Zimmerman. Zimmerman, a 6-foot-11 big man, has long thought to be one of the top players in the sophomore class. Attending the same high school as one-time Duke target and now UCLA Bruin Shabazz Muhammad, the Bishop Gorman product (Las Vegas, Nev.) holds offers from Arizona, Kansas, UNLV, and UCLA, among others, already.