The Blue Devil coaching staff will find out if their 2012 class will have another member besides Rasheed Sulaimon when Amile Jefferson announces his college decision Tuesday night. Jefferson will decide between Duke, Kentucky, and N.C. State.
Fellow class of 2012 forward Anthony Bennett recently spurned Kentucky for UNLV, which could help the Wildcats' chances to land Jefferson given the increased availability of playing time in Lexington now. Furthermore, the Wildcat coaching staff has reportedly pursued Jefferson harder in recent weeks. N.C. State, however, might be the favorite to land Jefferson.
Furthermore, Wright State transfer guard Julius Mays has chosen to attend Kentucky and will be available immediately for his final year of eligibilty, leading to speculation as to whether or not the Wildcats have spot on their roster now for Jefferson.
Two weeks ago, Duke made an offer to Robert Hubbs, who is a 6-foot-6 guard/wing in the class of 2013 from Newbern, Tenn. Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski offered Hubbs a scholarship after watching him and his AAU teammate Austin Nichols, who also holds a scholarship offer from Duke. Hubbs’ offer was quite surprising to most fans considering that he was not really a household name on the national recruiting scene until Duke suddenly entered his recruitment. A large contingent of SEC schools are strongly pursuing Hubbs and he recently took an unofficial visit to Missouri. Hubbs is the 17th ranked shooting guard in the class of 2013 according to scout.com. ESPN does not have Hubbs ranked at this time.
Since getting a scholarship offer from Duke, Nichols has seen his recruitment blow up. The 6-foot-8 big man now has scholarship offers from nearly 40 schools, including Kansas, North Carolina and Ohio State, among many others.
2013 wing target Semi Ojeleye narrowed his list of schools down to Duke, Wisconsin, Arizona, Stanford, UCLA, Indiana, Kansas State, Oregon, Missouri and Kansas. Duke and Kansas are the only two schools on Ojeleye's list that have not offered him a scholarship.
The two Kansas schools are thought to be major players for Ojeleye. The powerfully built, 6-foot-6 2013 wing from Ottawa, Kan. has an older brother who plays for Kansas State. It remains to be seen though if Kansas will offer a scholarship to Ojeleye, who only lives 30 miles from Lawrence, given that 2013 swingman Brannen Greene has already committed to the Jayhawks. Kansas head coach Bill Self has a solid track record of keeping quality in-state kids in Kansas, so many fans expect Ojeleye to receive a scholarship offer from the Jayhawk coaching staff. Ojeleye is a terrific student in addition to being one of the best wing prospects in the class of 2013, which will likely play a role in his college decision.
Duke already has offers out to 2013 wings Hubbs, Ishmail Wainright, Jabari Parker and Matt Jones, who committed last November. Mississippi State transfer Rodney Hood, who won't be eligible to play until 2013-14, is also being courted by Duke. The Duke coaches closely monitored Ojeleye during the first two sessions of the Nike EYBL and he could very well receive a scholarship offer over the summer.
Many of Duke’s 2013 and 2014 prospects including Jones, Julius Randle, Parker, Jahlil Okafor, Theo Pinson, Wainright, Ojeleye, Allerik Freeman, Anthony Barber, Marcus Lee, and JaQuel Richmond, among others, competed in the third session of the Nike EYBL in Dallas, Texas over the weekend. Tyus Jones, one of the Duke's most sought after recruits, did not play as he was battling an illness.
The fourth session of the Nike EYBL will be May 25-28 in Oakland, Cali.
Justise Winslow is a name that has recently emerged on Duke’s 2014 recruiting radar. The Houston native is a smooth 6-foot-6 wing that has a very well rounded game. According to scout.com, Arizona, Baylor and Texas, among several others, have already offered him a scholarship.
Similarly, Austin Grandstaff is another Texan who is drawing interest from Duke even though he is only in the class of 2015. At 6-foot-4, Grandstaff is a quality shooter and has the ability to play both point guard and shooting guard.
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