Duke’s blowout loss to Ohio State last week coincides with the Blue Devil’s recruitment battle with the Buckeyes for Tony Parker. The five-star big man continues to weigh his options, although Duke and Ohio State are considered to be the leaders in his recruitment. According to The Recruit Scoop’s Alex Kline, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and assistant coach Jeff Capel were in Georgia to watch Parker lead Miller Grove to an easy 81-44 win last Friday night.
A December announcement is still expected from Parker. Regardless of when he announces, however, Parker will not be able to sign his letter of intent until the spring signing period, which begins April 13th.
Five-star 2014 center Jahlil Okafor of Whitney Young High School in Chicago was at Duke over the weekend for an unofficial visit according to his twitter. Duke offered Okafor a scholarship earlier this fall when the Duke staff visit him during the contact period. Okafor is reportedly the only 2014 player that holds a scholarship offer from Duke at this time. At this point, Okafor is the top ranked big man in the class of 2014 and the No. 3 overall player according to ESPN. Okafor is also AAU teammates with Duke 2013 target and fellow Chicago native Jabari Parker.
According to Clint Jackson of rivals.com, Shabazz Muhammad’s father, Ron Holmes, attended the Maui Invitational two weeks ago to watch Kansas, Duke and UCLA, three of Muhammad’s prospective schools. Muhammad was in attendance for UNLV’s upset victory over then top-ranked North Carolina on November 26th in Las Vegas according to Dave Telep of ESPN.
The top ranked player in the class of 2012 will make his highly anticipated official visit to Duke on March 3rd for the UNC game.
The Blue Devil’s lone 2012 signee thus far, Rasheed Sulaimon, continues to play exceptionally well early in his senior campaign. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard has finished with 29, 26 and 21 scoring outputs in recent games. Sulaimon’s high school team, Strake Jesuit, suffered their first loss of the year 55-68 on Saturday night against Sacramento Jesuit in the Father Barry Classic Championship.
Duke fans in the triangle area will have an opportunity to see the future Duke guard play during December 28th-30th. Sulaimon’s high school team will play in the Holiday Invitational in Raleigh, NC at Broughton High School.
After recently committing to Duke, 2013 shooting guard Matt Jones of DeSoto High School in Texas has netted 14, 16 and 20 point performances in his past three games, all of which resulted in wins for DeSoto.
In other news: Five-star 2013 point guard Nate Britt verbally committed to North Carolina last week. Britt plays with the DC Assault AAU team, which has produced Duke players Josh Hairston, Tyler Thornton and Quinn Cook. Duke was considered to be heavily involved in Britt’s recruitment earlier in the year, but reports indicate the Blue Devil’s interest began to dwindle significantly this past summer and fall. Duke will likely strongly pursue 2014 point guards such as Tyus Jones and JaQuel Richmond instead.
North Carolina’s 2013 class is shaping up to be a special one for head coach Roy Williams. Britt gives the Tar Heels two five-star 2013 pledges already. North Carolina also has a verbal commitment from power forward Isaiah Hicks, who is the No. 14 overall player in 2013 according to ESPN.
North Carolina is also strongly recruiting Duke 2013 targets Jabari Parker and Julius Randle—the consensus top two players in the class.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.