WASHINGTON D.C.—As the July live evaluation period nears its conclusion, the world's top high school prospect gathered in our nation's capital last weekend as eight teams battled at Trinity Washington University in the seventh annual Nike Global Challenge. Each team competed in four games during the tournament's three days, with the USA West squad eventually taking the crown against the USA South in a tightly-contested contest, 98-95.
Duke associate head coach Steve Wojciechowski was on hand for the first day of action. A number of high-profile college coaches attended the event, including North Carolina's Roy Williams, Kentucky's John Calipari, Michigan State's Tom Izzo, Michigan's John Beilein, Missouri's Frank Haith, Louisville's Rick Pitino, USC's Andy Enfield and Stanford's Johnny Dawkins.
The tournament's roster was laden with Duke targets. The Blue Devils' lone Class of 2014, Grayson Allen, was hungry to win back-to-back tournaments after his AAU squad won the Nike Peach Jam last week. Allen averaged 16.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game at the Nike Global Challenge for USA South. He shot 59.0 percent from the floor and 55.0 percent from beyond the arc—keep in mind that as this was technically an international tournament, the games were all played under FIBA rules and utilized a deeper 3-point line than is used in NCAA play.
Allen's athleticism was on display throughout the week in Washington D.C., attacking the rim and throwing down a number of emphatic jams. He was one of the tournament's more dynamic players, and was slowed down in the championship game after taking a tough fall the night before. Allen said his left knee has been bothering him throughout the summer, but that wasn't going to stop him from taking the court.
"I didn't run 100 percent, but when it's the fourth quarter in a close game—in the championship game—you don't really feel little ticky-tack injuries like this," Allen said. "It was just a little sore and kind of loosened up as the game went on."
Now firmly committed to Duke, Allen is tasked with helping to round out his own collegiate recruiting class. Allen said that he is slowly getting to know other Blue Devil targets thanks to the AAU circuit, but is mostly downplaying their recruitment.
"I talked to Myles Turner, who recently got a Duke offer. I've been around Tyus [Jones] and Jahlil [Okafor] a little bit. I'm not really close to any of them, but I'm just making friends," Allen said. "I'm not trying to get in their ear or pressure them to come to Duke—I'm just trying to build a relationship and a friendship."
Suiting up for the USA West squad, Stanley Johnson was eventually named the tournament's co-MVP on the U.S. side, along with Ohio State commit D'Angelo Russell. Johnson, who is ranked No. 12 in the Class of 2014 by ESPN, averaged 17.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for the tournament. He scored 23 points and adding 11 boards and five assists during the championship game and made some huge plays down the stretch.
Johnson listed Duke among his top seven schools, but said that he doesn't feel like he is one of the Blue Devils' priorities in his recruitment, which is handled by assistant coach Nate James. Johnson listed Arizona, Kentucky, Florida and USC among his top choices at this point, and said he has enjoyed meeting Andy Enfield, the Trojans' first-year head coach.
When speaking with Johnson and uncommitted small forward Kelly Oubre at the Nike Global Challenge, the pair gave their thoughts on the proposed recruiting package of Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones, who are ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in their class by ESPN, respectively. Johnson and Oubre said it was their opinion that if the pair followed through on their plans to commit together, they couldn't see them going anywhere but Duke. They mentioned that if Okafor decided to go somewhere on his own, Ohio State could be a major player if he decides to team up with Russell, who is another elite point guard. Johnson and Oubre's predictions are nothing more than speculation, but it was interesting to hear coming from players who have spent every week with Jones and Okafor this summer on the AAU circuit.
As for the aforementioned Jones, he led his USA Midwest squad to a third-place finish and was named to the U.S. all-tournament team at the Nike Global Challenge, scoring 11.5 points and dishing out 7.0 assists per game. Jones appeared to be under no pressure to score. Although he scored more than 20 points per game at the Peach Jam the previous week, Jones was more than comfortable being the primary distributor playing for a team with a bevy of talented scorers. He also made an impact on the defensive end, recording 2.5 steals per game.
Jones said that he and Okafor still plan to honor their commitment to play together in college, although that won't stop them from each keeping a couple of schools on their list where the other is not considering.
"He has a couple of schools on his list that I'm not considering, so he's going to keep talking with their coaching staffs," Jones said.
As of now, Jones' only scheduled visit will be to Baylor in August. He is expected to make the visit with Okafor and forward Justise Winslow, who is rumored to be a potential member of their package as well.
It was an interesting weekend for Moss Point, Miss. guard Devin Booker. He definitely established himself as one of the streakier shooters in this year's recruiting class, shooting 5-of-6 from beyond the arc in his third game for the USA South and a combined 1-for-7 in his team's other three games.
"Right now, it's mostly coach [Jeff] Capel doing the work," Booker said. "It's to the point where we don't even really text about basketball anymore. We just talk about family and things like that."
Booker was also rumored to have cut his list of schools to five just before the tournament's final day, which would have put Duke out of contention. He later refuted the report, which was originally made by a Mississippi newspaper, and said Thursday that he planned to wait until the end of the summer to cut his list to eight or five schools. Although the Blue Devils are still in contention for Booker at the moment, it would be surprising if they made it past Booker's next cut. Michigan and Michigan State are widely considered to be the frontrunners along with Kentucky, Florida and Missouri.
Looking forward to the Class of 2015, power forwards Ivan Rabb and Elijah Thomas both suited up for the USA West squad. Rabb, an Oakland, Calif. native, is ranked the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2015 by ESPN. Thomas, a Dallas native, is ranked No. 5.
It was Rabb who had far and away the better weekend at the Nike Global Challenge, averaging 10.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. Rabb's ability to position himself in the post was one of his greatest strengths, and at 6-foot-10 and 198 pounds, he got up and down the floor well in transition. Although he has yet to receive a scholarship offer from Duke, head coach Mike Krzyzewski has been in contact with Rabb and his family during the last few weeks, and Rabb believes an offer should be coming soon.
“Coach K has contacted my mom a few times. They were going to offer me, but they wanted to see me perform first,” Rabb said.
Thomas struggled throughout the weekend, averaging just 3.8 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. He often either struggled with foul trouble, positioning himself deep enough in the post or simply keeping up with the fast pace of play. At 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds, Thomas does not have tremendous speed or a great vertical leap, and it seems he had a difficult time getting up and down the floor at the Nike Global Challenge. Although he saw limited action in the tournament, one of his biggest strengths seems to be his ability to pass the ball from the post.
He was very cryptic when approached about a potential scholarship offer from Duke, and said that he does not currently have any visits planned.
"I'm not like everyone else. I don't really like to talk about offers and lists," Thomas said. "Even if they did offer, I'm not going to tell anyone. I don't like everyone giving me attention just because a school offers you. In the end, you only pick one school, so it really doesn't matter."
A couple of other names to watch out for are forwards Reid Travis and Abdul-Malik Abu. Travis, who is Jones' AAU teammate with Howard Pulley, has recently received contact from the Duke coaching staff through his AAU coach. He averaged 22.0 points per game at the Nike Global Challenge.
Abu's contact with Duke had gone quiet until recently, and the forward was a standout for the Pan Africa squad at the Nike Global Challenge. He made the international all-tournament team despite playing while fasting for the month of Ramadan.
Check back later today for part two of Recruiting Roundup, as we look at what happened at recruiting events in Milwaukee and Philadelphia this weekend.
In case you missed it, check out our video highlights and recaps from the first, second and third days at the Nike Global Challenge.
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