Lets start with the player everyone has been talking about for months now—Brandon Ingram. The talented five-star recruit announced this week that he planned to have in-home visits with the remaining teams on his list. Ingram is currently choosing between Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, NC State and UCLA.
His schedule changed Sunday afternoon when Ingram decided to schedule a meeting with the Blue Devils again Tuesday, prior to his meeting with the Tar Heels.
The timing of this change is interesting because many believe that Ingram is likely deciding between Duke and North Carolina. Although, Ingram has spoke before about growing up a Blue Devil fan, his high school has produced many past Tar Heels such as Reggie Bullock and his AAU team is run by North Carolina great Jerry Stackhouse.
This additional visit most likely means one of two things—either Duke is putting the full-court press on Ingram or the Kinston, N.C., native plans to let the Blue Devils down easy before committing to the Tar Heels the very next day. More news about the five-star forward's recruitment broke late Sunday night, as Ingram’s father announced that Ingram would declare his college decision April 27th.
In other news, 2016 five-star combo guard Tyus Battle was on campus this past weekend. The Edison, N.J., native met with the Duke coaching staff and spent time with some of the players from the championship team.
In what could potentially be an incredible 2016 recruiting class for the Blue Devils, Battle is considered the most likely to commit early. According to the 24/7 sports, Duke is the heavy favorite to land the speedy point guard. Battle left campus Sunday to head to Louisville for his official visit.
Lastly, with Tyus Jones departing for the NBA, the Blue Devils have been left with a huge hole to fill at the point guard position for next season. Two of the possible options are Derryck Thornton and Jamal Murray. Thornton was supposed to visit Louisville this past weekend, but decided to postpone until he took his SATs, which are scheduled for early May.
The Duke coaching staff is flying to Nevada Monday to meet with Thornton and continue to discuss the idea of the 6-2 guard reclassifying and playing for the Blue Devils next season.
Another name to keep in mind is Dylan Ennis. The former Villanova guard has decided to transfer after being unsatisfied with his role for the Wildcats. Since Ennis has already graduated from Villanova, he is eligible to transfer and play right away next season. The Brampton, Ohio, native announced Duke amongst the list of eight schools he is considering, which also includes Purdue, Illinois, Tennessee, LSU, Georgia Tech, Baylor and Oregon. Ennis averaged 9.9 points along with 3.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the Wildcats this season.
That’s all for this week’s busy recruiting roundup. Be sure to stay with the Blue Zone for all your recruiting news.
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