Duke coaches were on the move last week as they traveled throughout the country to watch some of the nation's most talented high school juniors and seniors.
Starting in the 2015 class, the Blue Devil coaches headed to Fort Wayne, Ind., Friday night to watch talented big man Caleb Swanigan. Swanigan did not disappoint the coaches in attendance, as he scored 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in his team’s 73-53 win.
Swanigan also discussed his recruitment with Jeff Rabjohns of Rivals.com, and said he plans to wait to make his college decision until the spring period.
The Duke coaches were also on the road this week to watch the two top 2016 point guards. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski and associate head coach Jeff Capel headed to Fayetteville, N.C., to watch Dennis Smith, Jr. play Thursday night, and then left Indiana with the rest of the staff to head to Las Vegas to watch Derryick Thornton. These two have emerged as the top point guards of the class and both will be heavily recruited by the Blue Devils.
Staying with the class of 2016, Coach K and company spent Monday in Gladstone, N.J., watching the talented combo guard Tyus Battle. Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog caught up with Battle's father, Gary Battle, who had this to say about Duke:
“We like a Duke a lot, what’s not to like? They’re playing some great basketball right now. Coach K is very good at adapting to his players. Obviously, it’s a great academic school, that’s important to us, important to Tyus. “It is a fact that Tyus is a critical component to their 2016 class. He’s not the only one, but they’re not recruiting two guys at his position. To do what he does, they’re recruiting him to be a versatile basketball player. Coach K plays guys interchangeably, and Tyus would primarily be a wing, two or three, but he’s a versatile basketball player. So he’ll be able to dribble and facilitate as well as doing some stuff in the post once in a while, be a mismatch, so that’s kind of attractive to us in a variety of ways…And he’s going to be able to do what he does on the perimeter, which I think is really important for him to get to the next level. He’ll be able to make shots and defend. Kind of a new brand of basketball, that Euro/American brand of basketball that’s going on now.”
Lastly, the class of 2016 now has a new member as point guard Blake Harris transferred and reclassified this week. Harris, who spoke with the Blue Zone a few weeks ago, transferred from Carlisle School in Virginia to attend the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Florida. Montverde is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today and currently includes the top ranked player of the Class of 2015, Ben Simmons.
Harris had this to say about the transfer: “I love the school and it prepares you for college. It is a better situation [than before] because we're the number 1 team and I can show my talent.”
That’s all for this week’s recruiting roundup, be sure to stay with the Blue Zone for all your recruiting news.
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