Julius Randle, the top-ranked power forward in the class of 2013, is now down to six schools-- Kentucky, Florida, Oklahoma, NC State, Florida and Texas-- according to a tweet Wednesday afternoon by Dave Telep of ESPN.com.
The news comes as a huge shock for most Duke fans considering that the Blue Devils seemingly were in a solid position regarding Randle's recruitment by already have a commitment from his good friend and AAU teammate, Matt Jones. Plus, Duke associate head coach Jeff Capel was considered to have a strong relationship with Randle.
Duke's rival, North Carolina-- another perceived contender in Randle's recruitment-- was surprisingly eliminated from the Randle sweepstakes too.
Given his list of schools, all signs point to Randle ending up at Kentucky, which is the only school he has officially visited so far.
With Randle off the board, Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski has two targets that he is still aggressively pursuing in the class of 2013-- Jabari Parker and Austin Nichols.
Nichols, a 6-foot-8 power forward, will officially visit Duke this weekend.
And Parker, the No. 1 player in the class of 2013 according to ESPN.com, will make his way to Durham the weekend of October 27 for his official visit.
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