Let's start with the big news from New Year's Day- 2016 prospect Sacha Killeya-Jones has committed to the University of Virginia. As covered here, Killeya-Jones had been getting more and more attention from the Blue Devils’ coaches of late, but, instead of waiting for that possible Duke offer, decided to take his talents to Charlottesville and play for the Cavaliers. Killeya-Jones is the exact type of stretch four that fits well in Tony Bennett’s offense and could make an impact from day one on the court.
Continuing with the 2016 class, Duke did receive some positive news Friday night as 24/7 Sports’ Andrew Slater reported that Jayson Tatum would take his first official visit to Durham to watch the Blue Devils take on Syracuse Feb. 28. Tatum is currently the top player in the class of 2016 according to both ESPN and 24/7.
Tatum also spoke to Jack LeGwin of ZagsBlog and discussed his possible Duke visit, as well as all schools recruiting him.
On the Duke visit: “I’m trying to take a trip to the Duke and Syracuse game,” Tatum said, referring to the Feb. 28 game at Cameron. “That would be my first official visit. I don’t have a favorite just yet. The opportunity presented itself, so I felt like I should take that visit.”
Tatum also went on to say this about Duke’s recruitment of him: "They’re one of the top 3 schools that I keep in contact with Coach [Jeff] Capel, Coach K, Coach [Jon] Scheyer, we talk weekly.”
According to the 24/7 Sports’ Crystal Ball, Duke is favored to land the talented Missouri native, followed closely by Kansas and Kentucky with Missouri and St. Louis in a distant fourth and fifth, respectively.
Staying with the 2016 class, point guard Dennis Smith, Jr. was at Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday afternoon as he watched the Blue Devils open ACC play with a strong win against Boston College.
Smith Jr. was given the full Cameron experience, including a “Dennis Smith, Come to Duke” chant and the touted point guard responded with a wave.
Another prized 2016 prospect, Tyus Battle, who has been off the court all season, continued to battle a nagging ankle injury as he did not even travel with his Gill St. Bernard’s team in the Cancer Research Classic this weekend. Battle is being recruited by some of the top college programs, including Duke, Syracuse, Michigan and Kentucky.
Lastly, in the matchup of Duke’s two 2015 commits, Chase Jeter’s Bishop Gorman squad throttled Luke Kennard’s Franklin team 71-39 at the Beach Ball Classic.
Kennard’s incredible tournament performance did not go unnoticed, however, as he was named Most Outstanding Player of the Beach Ball Classic and both Kennard and Jeter were named to the All-Tournament team.
That’s all for this week’s recruiting roundup, be sure to stay with the Blue Zone for all your recruiting news and Duke basketball updates before and after every game.
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