Let;s start with the biggest news of the week: Luke Kennard and Chase Jeter are officially coming to Duke. As covered by the Blue Zone Wednesday night, both prized 2015 recruits signed at their high schools and each will be a key member of next year’s team.
Moving on to this past Saturday, as previously reported, two talented prospects were in the building Saturday night, as both Brandon Ingram and Blake Harris watched the Blue Devils dismantle Fairfield 109-59 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Starting with the latter, the 2017 point guard reportedly loved his visit to Duke and will definitely be a name to remember for the future.
As for Ingram, when he arrived, he received a loud welcome to Cameron in the middle of the second half as the crazies began to chant “Come to Duke” and then “Brandon Ingram”. Ingram, to the surprise of many, then walked over and actually sat in the student section.
This led to some speculation that Ingram may commit to Duke early this coming week, however, Adam Rowe, of 24/7 Sports, crushed that hope with this tweet late Sunday evening.
The news does not come to a shock, though, as many thought Ingram may wait and see how his other options stack up to the Blue Devils. Ingram is down to a final six of Duke, North Carolina, N.C. State, Kentucky, Kansas and UCLA.
Quickly touching on the 2016 recruits, forward Harry Giles had a monster game this week, scoring 38 points and grabbing 19 boards in a blowout win.
Point guard Dennis Smith Jr discussed his Duke visit from Countdown to Craziness in his blog post for USA Today and had this to say:
My second visit was to Duke for Countdown to Craziness and I was there with Harry and Tyus (Battle). We had a great time! The Cameron Crazies always do their thing and they were chanting “Dennis Smith come to Duke.” Then they had another chant where they were telling me to come sit with them, but I couldn’t because I was talking to Coach K at the time. We had a good talk; he was telling me how much of a special player he felt I was and how special my athleticism was and how he couldn’t wait to coach me. At halftime we went to get sodas and the fans kept asking us what we were waiting for? It was funny. It was just a great visit. Duke will be Duke; they’re always good. Jahlil Okafor is a beast; I honestly think he’ll be the Player of the Year. He and some of the other players were definitely trying to get me to commit, asking what I was waiting for. That kind of stuff is still cool to me and always will be. It took me longer to get on the map then most so that’ll never get old to me. I took so many pictures with fans that night; it was crazy. I signed about 25 autographs too; the fans definitely go hard there.
Lastly, 2016 power forward T.J. Leaf will announce his college decision this Friday. Duke was once considered to be a favorite for Leaf, however, after skipping Countdown to Craziness, many believe Leaf will decide between Arizona and Florida.
That’s all for this week's recruiting roundup, be sure to stay with the Blue Zone for your latest recruiting news.
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