Saturday's showdown between No. 4 Duke and No. 14 North Carolina has immediate implications for seeding in the ACC and NCAA tournaments. The more meaningful implications, however, may play out in the coming months and years as a handful of top recruits are set to visit Cameron Indoor Stadium for the action.
Myles Turner (2014), Chase Jeter (2015) and Luke Kennard (2015) are taking official visits, while Brandon Ingram (2015), Harry Giles (2016) and Josh Langford (2016) are expected to visit unofficially.
Turner, the No. 2 recruit in 2014 according to ESPN, is the only top-40 player in his class who has yet to commit. A 6-foot-11 center from Texas, Turner visited Kansas Wednesday and has already officially seen Ohio State and Oklahoma State, according to Zagsblog. He still plans to visit Texas and potentially Kentucky and has unofficially seen Texas A&M and SMU. 247 Sports has an interview with Turner's father, David, following the Kansas visit.
Turner would give Duke a loaded frontcourt next year alongside the No. 1 recruit in 2014, Jahlil Okafor, but it's unclear how realistic that is given that they play the same position. The Blue Devils are not considered the favorite to land Turner. Okafor will be in town for the game, according to Blue Devil Digest, and fellow 2014 commit Justise Winslow—who has seen a number of games recently including the Duke-UNC game at the Dean Dome, will be in attendance per multiple reports.
Looking to 2015, Duke has shown steady interest in both Jeter and Kennard, the No. 35 and No. 24 players in the class, respectively. Kennard, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Ohio, averaged about 40 points per game this season for Franklin High School. Adam Rowe from Blue Devil Lair spoke to Kennard's high school coach for some insight into his game. His coach will be on the visit with Kennard and his family and said Duke, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio State are the five schools he hears from most.
Jeter, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Las Vegas, has also been a priority for Coach K and the Duke staff. His AAU coach told Zagsblog that "Duke loves Chase." The coach noted Duke is his only planned visit as of now, though Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina and UCLA are also making a push.
The most highly-rated 2015 recruit in town, however, will be No. 15 Brandon Ingram, a small forward from Kinston, N.C. Associate head coach Jeff Capel visited Ingram at the end of February. An in-state recruit, Ingram was also in town when Duke toppled Syracuse at Cameron.
In terms of 2016 recruits, Giles—the No. 3 player in the class—highlights the crew. An in-state recruit from Winston-Salem, the 6-foot-9 power forward has seen a number of Duke games, including last year's Duke-UNC game at Cameron.
Langford, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, ranks 13th in 2016 and is visiting, according to Blue Devil Digest. Duke has not been connected to Langford regularly, so interest on either side appears preliminary.
2016 point guard Dennis Smith Jr., a point guard from Fayeteville, N.C., will also visit unofficially. He is not ranked in ESPN's top 100.
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