The Blue Devils got a key ACC win Wednesday night against their rival in thrilling fashion, using a 10-point comeback in the closing minutes of regulation to force overtime and eventually prevail 92-90 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
And the win could pay off in more ways than one.
5-star 2016 recruits Harry Giles, Dennis Smith, Jr., and Derryck Thornton were courtside for the exciting contest. All three are high on Duke's priority list for its next recruiting class and are widely regarded as top-12 talents in their year. Giles is slated as the top power forward and a top-two player in the class by 247Sports and ESPN and Smith, Jr. and Thornton are considered top-three point guards by the two major recruiting outlets.
According to 247Sports' crystal ball, the Blue Devils are the favorites to land all three players, but they only have better than a 50-percent shot with more than a eight-percent margin to get Smith, Jr.
A pair of touted 2015 recruits—Duke commit Luke Kennard and Caleb Swanigan—were also on hand for the contest. Kennard has been waiting to play at Cameron Indoor Stadium for a long time after committing to the Blue Devils March 24, 2014, but by contrast Swanigan still has yet to announce his college choice. The five-star center took an official visit to Duke Wednesday, but is expected to sign with Michigan State according to 247Sports' crystal ball.
In addition to the big-name recruits in the house, several former Blue Devil standouts were in attendance, including Nolan Smith, Jabari Parker, Gerald Henderson and Christian Laettner.
A notable exception from those in attendance was Duke's other 2015 commit, Chase Jeter. The five-star forward is planning to visit Durham when the Blue Devils host Syracuse next Saturday, Feb. 28, but wasn't able to make it for the 239th playing of college basketball's most storied rivalry Wednesday night.
But despite the power forward's absence, there were plenty of famous faces in the crowd for fans to take stock of as they relive the thrilling basketball game.
Keep up with the Blue Zone for all your Duke basketball and recruiting news as the Blue Devils get set to host Clemson Saturday at 4 p.m. and look for their seventh straight win.
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