According to Adam Zagoria, Duke and N.C. State are “in the driver’s seat” for Amile Jefferson. The 6-foot-9 power forward is expected to announce a college decision by the end of January per CBS Sports. Jefferson is one the few uncommitted top 100 big men in the class of 2012.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski attended the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts to watch their other 2012 post target, Tony Parker. The 6-foot-9 bruising big man finished with just six points on 1-of-7 shooting against St. Anthony (NJ). Playing a difficult national schedule, Miller Grove is just 9-7 thus far in the season.
Parker indicated in a recent interview with Scout.com that he has added Connecticut to his list of potential schools to go along with Kentucky, Ohio State, Duke, UCLA and Memphis. A spring announcement is now expected. The Georgia native is expected to use his fifth and final official visit, which will likely be to either Connecticut or Kentucky.
While at the Hoophall Classic, Krzyzewski and Wojciechowski also watched the top ranked player in 2012, Shabazz Muhammad, last Monday per Clint Jackson of Rivals.com. Alongside Krzyzewski was Kentucky head coach John Calipari. Muhammad did not fail to impress two of the best coaches in college basketball either. The left-handed slasher finished with a game high 37 points and six rebounds against DeMatha Catholic.
Muhammad’s team, Bishop Gorman, fell to national powerhouse and crosstown rival Findlay Prep 73-61 at a sold-out Cox Pavillion in Las Vegas last Saturday night. Muhammad finished with 19 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter.
Kentucky is considered to be the favorite to land the 6-foot-6 scoring machine’s services, although Duke remains firmly in the mix along with Arizona, Kansas, UNLV and UCLA.
The Duke coaching staff watched the top ranked player in 2013, Jabari Parker, at the Hoophall classic too. Arguably the best player in all of high school basketball, Parker netted 24 points and 12 rebounds as Simeon fell to Findlay Prep 75-50.
ESPN’s second ranked player in the class of 2014, Theo Pinson, attended the Duke-Florida State game this past weekend. Duke has shown considerable interest in the 6-foot-5 Greensboro native early and often. Though still early, North Carolina and Duke are thought to be the schools to beat in Pinson’s recruitment, although neither have officially offered Pinson a scholarship yet.
Pinson’s AAU and high school teammate, JaQuel Richmond, attended the Florida State game with Pinson. The 6-foot-1 floor general is the fifth ranked point guard in the class of 2014 according to Scout.com. Richmond and 2014’s top ranked point guard, Tyus Jones, are the only pure point guards, regardless of class, that Duke is known to be actively recruiting at this time. If Duke decides to offer Richmond a scholarship, he will likely verbally commit on the spot, as he has expressed on numerous occasions that he grew up an avid Duke fan.
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