Let's start with the biggest news of the week—five-star guard Frank Jackson plans to announce his college decision tonight at 6:30 p.m.
After his standout play during summer tournaments, Jackson emerged as the Blue Devils' top guard target in the Class of 2016. The Lone Peak, Utah, native is ranked 14th in the 2016 ESPN 100 and is widely considered to be one of the top shooters in his class.
Jackson just took his official visit to Duke this past weekend and his decision to commit so soon after his trip to Durham may suggest that the Blue Devils have a good shot at landing him. According to 24/7 Sports Crystal Ball, Duke is the unanimous favorite to land the talented guard, garnering all of the votes. In addition to the Blue Devils, BYU, Stanford and Utah appear to be in the running for Jackson's services. The 6-foot-3 guard had this to say to the Salt Lake Tribune before his visit:
"The four schools I have right now, I love each and every one of them, I think they’ve been really good to me. I like to hear what they have to say. But when I know where I’m going to go it will be nice.”
Staying with the class of 2016, big man Marques Bolden cut his list to eight yesterday and the Blue Devils made the cut.
Final 8 pic.twitter.com/HYTkNiooRc
— ✊ (@MarquesB__) August 31, 2015
Joining Duke in the final eight are Kentucky, Kansas, TCU, Alabama, Wake Forest, Oklahoma and Baylor. The 6-foot-10 big man hails is ranked 20th in the 2016 ESPN 100 and is the second-ranked center in his class. According to the 24/7 Sports Crystal Ball, the Blue Devils and Kansas are the two front-runners for the services of the DeSoto, Texas native, with Duke the slight favorites at this point. Bolden has yet to announce a time table for his decision.
Looking ahead to the next year's class, forward Michael Porter Jr. recently cut his list to ten over Twitter and included the Blue Devils along with Washington, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, Kansas, UCLA, Indiana, Stanford and Syracuse.
Excited to cut my list to 10! I Appreciate all of the other schools who have invested their time in recruiting me. pic.twitter.com/rfKXud4Ttp
— Michael Porter Jr. (@m1chael_porter) August 5, 2015
Porter has discussed a possible package deal with 2017 guard Trae Young—who is his teammate on the Mokan Elite team on the AAU circuit. Expect the duo's decision to be one of the hot topics in the recruiting world during the next couple months.
That’s all for this week’s roundup. Be sure to stay with the Blue Zone for your latest recruiting news including Frank Jackson's announcement later this evening.
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