With recruiting temporarily on the back-burner, five-star recruits Jayson Tatum and Harry Giles made news from Crete, Greece this past week, where the United States emerged victorious in the FIBA U19 World Championship after a thrilling 79-71 overtime victory over Croatia in the gold-medal game.
The Americans defeated Iran, Croatia and Egypt handily in group-play before rolling past Argentina and Italy to reach the semifinals. The United States faced its first real test of the tournament from host-nation Greece, but prevailed 82-76 on the back of a strong effort from Villanova-bound point guard Jalen Brunson. In the victory, Tatum made arguably the play of the tournament when he posterized a Greek defender and left him with a bloody nose.
In the gold-medal game, the Americans faced a rematch against Croatia, who they previously beat 103-81. But this time, the score was much closer and the talented European opponent had a chance to win the game at the foul line late. Down just one with two free-throws coming, forward Luka Bozic missed a chance to be the hero for his home country—connecting on only his first attempt which sent the game to overtime. In the extra period, Brunson—who was later named tournament MVP— made huge shots down the stretch to help the United States come away with the gold.
Both Giles and Tatum remain Duke’s top targets in the Class of 2016 and the duo has the potential to mirror former U19-champions Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones as one of the most highly touted package deals in Blue Devil history. Giles and Tatum—who roomed together again while in Greece and are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the 2016 ESPN 100 respectively—reaffirmed their desire to be teammates and compete for a championship in college.
Giles had a strong tournament averaging 14.0 points and 10.6 rebounds per game and was named to the FIBA U19 World Championship All Tournament Team. The five-star recruit struggled shooting in the gold-medal game—finishing just 4-20 from the field—but chipped in 13 points and 16 boards, including some crucial offensive rebounds late in the contest.
Although Tatum was snubbed from the All-Tournament team, the St.Louis native also performed well in Greece. Tatum averaged 13.9 points along with 4.6 boards and 2.1 assists per game and made some key stops as one of the team’s top perimeter defenders. Tatum and Giles each started throughout the tournament, which was impressive considering they were competing against many players a year or two older than them.
Duke is currently considered the favorite to land the duo with 247sports.com's Crystal Ball giving the Blue Devils a 63-percent chance of landing Giles and a 71-percent chance of landing Tatum. To this date, neither recruit has announced a timetable for his decision.
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