As Duke hosts rival North Carolina on Saturday to close out their regular season, the Blue Devil coaching staff will welcome several of their top prospects for their biggest on-campus, in-season recruiting weekend of the year.
Fresh off winning a third Nevada state championship last week, Shabazz Muhammad, will make his highly anticipated official visit to Durham this weekend. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has heavily recruited the dynamic 6-foot-6 swingman since early in his prep career. After conducting an in-home visit with Muhammad last fall, Krzyzewski will have one more chance to give his sales pitch to the second-ranked player in 2012. Muhammad won't likely announce his college decision until April.
Fellow 2012 Duke target, Amile Jefferson, is also set to attend Saturday’s game against the Tar Heels. The 6-foot-9 combo forward, who is considered a Duke lean at this point, is expected to decide on a school soon.
Five-star 2012 big man, Tony Parker officially visited Kansas last weekend alongside Shabazz Muhammad. The two uncommitted McDonald’s All Americans witnessed an electric environment in which Kansas rallied from a 19 point deficit to defeat Missouri in what could have been the last regular season border war ever.
According to Adam Zagoria, Tony Parker will likely announce his college decision at the McDonald’s All American game on March 28th in Chicago. The 6-foot-9 center will decide between Duke, Ohio State, Memphis, Kansas, UCLA, Georgia and Kentucky. At this point, Kansas, Ohio State and UCLA are thought to be the favorites to land the Georgia product.
Duke will also host 2014 local prospects and high school teammates, Theo Pinson and JaQuel Richmond, this weekend. Pinson and Richmond are both five-star guards, who also play together on the CP3 All-Stars AAU team. Neither player has an official scholarship offer at this time, however, the Duke coaching staff has evaluated both extensively since last spring.
The Blue Devil’s lone 2012 signee thus far, Rasheed Sulaimon, will also return to Durham for the first time since his visit for Countdown to Craziness in October. Sulaimon’s high school team, Strake Jesuit, beat Westbury in the bi-district playoffs last Tuesday and then was upset by Cy Springs 67-68 last Friday, which ended the Crusaders’ season. Sulaimon had 42 points in the loss. Now that Strake Jesuit’s season is over, the 6-foot-4 combo guard will prepare for the McDonald’s All American and Jordan Brand Classic games.
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