Recruiting analysts predict Amile Jefferson will announce his college decision very soon. After visiting for the North Carolina game, Duke is thought to be the favorite to land Jefferson, though many Blue Devil fans expected an announcement by now.
The second-ranked player in 2012, Shabazz Muhammad, is not expected to take any more visits before making his college decision. Muhammad officially visited Duke for the North Carolina game. The 6-foot-6 swingman will likely wait until current college players declare for the NBA draft in order to gauge what the rosters of his prospective schools—Duke, Kentucky, UCLA, UNLV and Kansas—will look like next year.
After visiting for the North Carolina game, Rasheed Sulaimon, Duke’s only 2012 signee at the moment, was recently selected to play in the Nike Hoop Summit. The game features the top high school seniors against the best international players of the same age. Sulaimon will also play in the prestigious McDonald’s All American game and the Jordan Brand Classic to cap off his prep career.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski was in Chicago last week to watch two of his most coveted recruits, Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor, square off against one another. Parker’s team, Simeon high school, defeated Okafor and Whitney Young. Parker, the top-ranked player in the class of 2013, and Okafor, the best big man in the class of 2014, play alongside one another for the Mac Irvin Fire AAU team. Both hold scholarship offers from the Duke coaching staff and neither is expected to announce a college decision any time soon, although the Blue Devils are thought to be in a good position with both prospects.
Future Blue Devil Matt Jones recently saw his junior high school season come to a close as Desoto High School was defeated by Naaman Forest High School in the region two final of the Texas high school playoffs on March 3rd. Jones will now prepare for the AAU season with his team the Texas Titans, which also features Jones’ good friend and Duke target Julius Randle.
The Blue Devil coaching staff has recently begun recruiting the 2013 point guard Anthony Barber. In a recent interview with The Chronicle, ESPN Senior Recruiting Analyst Dave Telep broke down Barber’s game.
“Anthony Barber is kind of a speed demon,” Telep said. “He is one of those guys who wants to get two feet into the lane and make a play. He is very, very quick, great speed and likes to play in attack mode.
According to Evan Daniels of scout.com, Duke has also made contact with Ishmail Wainright, a 6-foot-5 2013 wing. Wainright, a Rockville, Md. native, plays at national power Montrose Christian high school, the alma matter of current Duke forward Josh Hairston. The Blue Devil coaching staff will further evaluate both Wainright and Barber through the spring and the summer.
After what currently looks to be a lackluster 2012 recruiting class by program standards, Duke fans can expect Krzyzewski and his staff to attempt to land a 4-5 man and star-studded 2013 recruiting class to replace current juniors Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly, Andre Dawkins and Seth Curry. Once the season is complete, the Blue Devil coaching staff will hit the road hard for recruiting during the April evaluation period.
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