Over the course of the past several weeks, it has been relatively quiet on the Jabari Parker recruiting front. The top-ranked player in the class of 2013 was forced to miss a substantial amount of the AAU circuit this summer due to a foot injury and since July he has not publicly spoken to the media much about his recruitment.
Still considered to be among the legitimate contenders to land the smooth 6-foot-8 swingman, Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski will return to his old stomping grounds in Chicago to visit Parker face-to-face on Friday.
Florida, DePaul, Kansas and BYU all reportedly met with Parker last week according to Evan Daniels of scout.com. Aside from the Blue Devil coaching staff, Michigan State and North Carolina will also conduct in-home visits with Parker this week. Stanford will do the same the following week, while Kentucky and Georgetown are also on Parker’s list of prospective schools, but do not have in-home visits scheduled.
Parker has not yet made any sort of indications as to where he will take his five official visits.
Duke’s recent addition of 2013 small forward Semi Ojeleye has raised questions as to whether the Blue Devils have fallen behind in the race for Parker, given the perceived logjam at the wing positions next year with Alex Murphy, Rodney Hood and Ojeleye.
With an equally busy recruiting schedule, Julius Randle—the No. 3 overall player according to ESPN.com—hosted Duke for an in-home visit last week and then took an official visit to Kentucky over the weekend.
In a recent article by Jason Jordan of USA Today High School Sports, Randle’s mother Carolyn Kyles said, “[Krzyzewski is] captivating. He really is. I truly understand why his players love him so much; you can tell that he really cares,” as she recapped the in-home visit with Duke.
The trip to Lexington was Randle’s first official visit. The 6-foot-9 lefty from Dallas will also officially visit Florida on October 6. The remaining three official visits are up for grabs still, however, there have been rumblings that Randle may officially visit North Carolina State for Midnight Madness, but that has not been confirmed.
Duke, meanwhile, is still expected to receive an official visit from Randle, which would likely occur during the basketball season.
According to various reports, Marcus Lee cut Duke from his list of prospective schools last week. The 6-foot-9 power forward is now down to three schools—California, Kentucky and Louisville.
With Lee off the radar, Austin Nichols seemingly becomes a huge priority for the Duke coaches given the emptying Blue Devil frontcourt after this season and the uncertainty of Randle committing to Duke. Nichols—the fifth-ranked power forward according to ESPN.com—will be in Durham for an official visit the weekend of October 6.
As reported last week, Tyus Jones—the top-ranked point guard in the class of 2014—will make his way to Durham for an unofficial visit during Countdown to Craziness.
A few other top-rated 2014 prospects including Jahlil Okafor and local standout Theo Pinson could very well be in attendance with Jones that weekend.
Last week, Duke assistant Steve Wojciechowski watched Karl Towns-- the consensus top-ranked player in the class of 2015-- and Trey Lyles, a five-star 2014 power forward who recently decommitted from Indiana, according to tweets by Adam Zagoria and Clint Jackson, respectively.
In other news: Former Duke target Anthony “Cat” Barber committed to North Carolina State over the weekend. Landing the speedy 6-foot-1 point guard is a huge get for the Wolfpack. Barber is the No.11 overall player in the class of 2013, per ESPN.com.
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