We'll start this week's roundup with a look at some of the top stories in the Class of 2016.
The Blue Devils have yet to hear from five-star big man Marques Bolden, who appears to have delayed his college decision. The center was expected to announce his college choice before April 17—his birthday. But the high school senior is rumored to be conflicted between Kentucky and Duke with Bolden slightly favoring the Wildcats, but his family leaning Blue Devils. Bolden recorded eight points and five rebounds for the West team in this weekend's Jordan Brand Classic.
Two future Blue Devils also took opposite sides of the court this week at the annual all-star game Friday in Brooklyn, N.Y. Forward Jayson Tatum scored 18 points and helped lead his East squad to a 131-117 victory against Jackson's West squad. Although Tatum's stellar play was one of the highlights of the night, Blue Devil fans held their breath when Jackson landed hard on his back after going for a rebound.
After being helped off the court, the five-star guard was treated for a concussion and is expected to be fine, according to his Peak Performance trainer.
With much of the focus on his efforts on the court, Tatum took to the Players Tribune this week to write a story about the hardships his mother faced and how they molded her and him into the people they are today. In the piece, the five-star recruit talks about how he and his mother reacted as Tatum rose from a little-known recruit from St. Louis to the No. 2 recruit in the 2016 ESPN 100.
When scholarship offers started arriving, every letter would make Mom cry. The call from Coach K was a dream come true — a dream she had been preparing me for these last couple of years, even if I wasn’t so sure that it would ever happen myself.
In an interesting hypothetical scenario, USA Today's Jason Jordan asked three future Blue Devils where they would have taken their talents next year if they didn't commit to Duke. Both Tatum and Jackson believed they would have chosen to play in-state at St. Louis and Utah, respectively. Five-star recruit Harry Giles—the top overall player in the Class of 2016 according to ESPN—revealed that he would have picked Kansas because of the job head coach Bill Self has done developing post players.
Although Giles did not play in the Classic as he continues to recover from a partially torn right ACL suffered in November, he was in Brooklyn cheering on his former teammates and met up with former Duke forward Jabari Parker, who now stars for the Milwaukee Bucks.
From the other side of the world, Australian wing Jack White signed his National Letter of Intent to officially join Duke's incoming class after committing to the Blue Devils in early March.
It's official! Excited to have signed my NLI to Duke University! … https://t.co/DDQFSdop1W
— Jack White (@5jackwhite) April 15, 2016
Turning our attention to the Class of 2017, five-star recruit Kevin Knox—the No. 6 prospect in the 2017 ESPN 60—talked about his in-home visit with the Blue Devils in his blog for USA Today High School Sports. Although head coach Mike Krzyzewski couldn't make the visit following his operation, associate head coach Jeff Capel made the trip and looked to sell Knox on his similarity to freshman Brandon Ingram.
Duke also got a good deal of help from their past and current recruits at the Nike EYBL tournaments this week in Brooklyn. 2017 guard Gary Trent Jr. averaged 21 points and 4.5 rebounds to lead the Howard Pulley Panthers (MN) to three wins with former Blue Devil point guard Tyus Jones in attendance. Trent is the No. 15 prospect in the 2017 ESPN 60 and is strongly considering Duke.
Duke (including @Tyusjones06 ) , Michigan St., Arizona, Minnesota among those here for 5 Gary Trent @THAT_KID_GARY of Howard Pulley
— Andrew Slater (@ASlater247) April 17, 2016
Capel and Blue Devil assistant coaches Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith were also on hand in Brooklyn during the weekend to watch five-star Mohamed Bamba lead his team to a victory. The big man is being pursued by Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina and Indiana, among others.
Duke 3 deep for Mohamed Bamba, @Diallo1Hamidou and @DengGak7 pic.twitter.com/P8JUlW6XYy
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) April 17, 2016
We'll end this week with a look at a prospect who has popped onto the Blue Devils' radar in recent weeks. Class of 2017 guard Anthony Polite has slowly earned looks from some of the top programs in the country and currently holds scholarship offers from three ACC programs.
2017 SG Anthony Polite has offers from BC, FSU, & VT among others. Says he's heard from Duke recently. @PoliteAp33 pic.twitter.com/stp3Rpj9rR
— Zachary Lyon (@F150Zach) April 17, 2016
Although the guard remains unranked nationally, expect Polite to shoot up the rankings if he continues to perform well on the court.
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