The big news of the week: Tyus Battle, a five-star 2016 combo guard, has cut his list to seven. His final list of seven includes the Blue Devils, and is missing a notable traditional powerhouse—Kentucky. Joining Duke in the New Jersey native’s top seven are Louisville, Connecticut, Michigan, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Ohio State.
Battle cut Florida, Villanova, Virginia and, most notably, the Wildcats from his list of 11. Tyus’ father, Gary Battle, spoke to ZagsBlog and had this to say about why the Wildcats may have been left off:
“We had some core values and we have some particulars on how they wanted to play him. He was really big on that, how they were going to play him. He wanted to have the opportunity to play on the ball and play off the ball. If a school for the most part told him he wasn’t going to have an opportunity to play on the ball, and he was going to have to play on the wing, they got cut. Even if they told us they were going to and we didn’t see it in their system—we watched a lot of basketball—we cut them. It really was that because he liked all the schools. He had a great relationship with every coach, and I had a great relationship with every coach.”
Gary Battle went on to say that Tyus is planning on taking official visits to both Duke and Louisville and added this about the Blue Devils in particular:
“Duke’s been trying to get us up for an official visit for about a month, we just haven’t had the chance to do it. We wanted to initially go to the Notre Dame game, and then we just couldn’t find a time to do it. We want to do an official visit because we’ve taken a lot of unofficial visits.”
Staying with the class of 2016, five-star power forward Harry Giles and five-star point guard Dennis Smith, Jr. were both on hand for Duke’s comeback win against North Carolina Wednesday night. ESPN caught up with them and asked about the visit and the game—here is the best of what the prized recruits had to say:
"I’ve been to every Duke and UNC game at both places, and this was the craziest and best game. I plan on attending the March 7th game at UNC, too."—Harry Giles
"It was a great game and the atmosphere was unreal. I’ve been to a lot of games in the last two years, on about 15 unofficial visits, and no game is like this one, it’s so intense it’s so crazy."—Dennis Smith, Jr.
Giles and Smith Jr also both talked about their friendship and possible desire to play together at the next level:
“I sat near Harry during the game and we had great seats. I’ve known him since the seventh grade. We do talk about playing together, it’s definitely a possibility."—Dennis Smith, Jr.
"Most definitely I’d like to play with him. We’ve known each other for a long time and have played together at camps over the years, and we’re friends."—Harry Giles
2016 five-star point guard Derryck Thornton was also in attendance Wednesday night, as was his father, Derryck Thornton Sr., who had this to say:
"Coming into the visit, you have a thought of what it might be like.But it’s not what you think, it’s even better. The pros they have and the education side, having coach so close, and being able to sit down with Coach K, who relates so well with the players and the parents."
Thornton also touched on the idea of reclassification himself, something that could be particularly interesting if Blue Devil freshman point guard Tyus Jones decides to leave early and enter the draft.
"They want to know if I would consider going to the class of 2015 because Tyus Jones could be leaving. I believe I could take that step both academically and on the court. It’s something I definitely have to think about and discuss with my family."
2015 five-star power forward Caleb Swanigan was also on hand for the Duke-North Carolina tilt Wednesday and his guardian Roosevelt Barnes had this to say about his visit:
"[The visit was] great. We went around campus and met with admissions, the trainer, and the strength and conditioning coach. Coach K was very direct. His plan for [Caleb] was for us to watch how they utilize Jahlil Okafor down low, giving him the space he needs to operate. He also mentioned that Caleb would be facing the basket from the high post and in ball screens, diving or popping out, because he knows that he can make a jumper."
Continuing with a possible teammate of Swanigan, as previously reported here, 2015 wing and North Carolina native Brandon Ingram did the Duke-UNC double dip Saturday, as he watched the Tar Heels defeat the Yellow Jackets and the Blue Devils take care of the Tigers.
Lastly, 2016 five-star wing Jayson Tatum and 2015 commit Chase Jeter will be visiting Cameron Indoor Stadium for the Syracuse game Saturday at 7 p.m. As previously reported here, Duke will be Tatum’s first official visit. Tatum tweeted this out Saturday in anticipation of his visit:
At this time, according to the 247Sports crystal ball, the Blue Devils are the heavy favorites to land Battle, and are also favored to land Giles, Tatum, Smith, Jr., and Thornton, though by much smaller margins. Duke is also favored to earn the services of Ingram and add to its 2015 class, though if Thornton reclassifies, the group could also grow into another dynamic quartet like the one the Blue Devils had this year.
That’s all for this week’s roundup. Be sure to stay with the Blue Zone for all your recruiting news.
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