For a lot of you that have followed Duke basketball recruiting for as long as I have, this time is perhaps unprecedented. In all of my years of covering the Blue Devils recruits, there has been a lot of time periods where things were kind of hot. The staff was riding high on the recruiting trail.
But I cannot think of any other period like this. The recruiting right now is scalding hot. So hot, that I just wanted to bring your attention to it, even more so than it already is.
Never have I seen the staff so hot. We all know Jeff Capel is a star recruiter and his close ratio on kids that he targets seems to be about .750 or .800. When he focuses on a kid and is the point man in the recruitment, odds have generally been really good. He's the point man on Harry Giles and he's also the point man on Marques Bolden right now.
Jon Scheyer is also becoming quite the recruiter. He was the point man on Frank Jackson, Jayson Tatum and he's also the guy on Wenyen Gabriel. Now I'm not saying that Capel and Scheyer aren't utilizing the entire team (Nate James, Coach K etc) but they are the foundation of the relationship with each of their assigned kids.
Some more tidbits to share:
But I cannot think of any other period like this. The recruiting right now is scalding hot. So hot, that I just wanted to bring your attention to it, even more so than it already is.
Never have I seen the staff so hot. We all know Jeff Capel is a star recruiter and his close ratio on kids that he targets seems to be about .750 or .800. When he focuses on a kid and is the point man in the recruitment, odds have generally been really good. He's the point man on Harry Giles and he's also the point man on Marques Bolden right now.
Jon Scheyer is also becoming quite the recruiter. He was the point man on Frank Jackson, Jayson Tatum and he's also the guy on Wenyen Gabriel. Now I'm not saying that Capel and Scheyer aren't utilizing the entire team (Nate James, Coach K etc) but they are the foundation of the relationship with each of their assigned kids.
Some more tidbits to share:
- I have had two sources now, this week, tell me that Marques Bolden is really feelin' Duke these days. The 6-10 center from Desoto is certainly not a done deal and I don't mean to imply that in any way, but one of my best UK sources told me earlier this week that he feels Duke is the team to beat, and that UK is the main competition. He feels Kansas, while still way up there, has slipped a bit with the burly center. Alabama is the sleeper in this, so keep an eye on them as well.
- Best intel that I can share on 2016 PF Javin DeLaurier is that Duke is involved, but not to a huge degree, at least at this point. The blue-collar, stamina laden PF from Charlottesville has set four officials. And he still has a spot open for one more (how convenient, right?) Texas, Princeton, Notre Dame and Stanford are the four schools that he has set visits for. This is a high academic kid, and I think in the end, he picks a basketball school that also has an impressive academic portfolio. I would consider this a "flirting stage" right now between DeLaurier and Duke.
- Evidently my tweet about Wenyen Gabriel made some noise yesterday. I figured it would, but not as much as it did. The Duke staff is actually doing a great job with the 6-10 late bloomer from New England. I spent about 20 minutes on the phone yesterday with a good source in New England and another 10-minutes on the phone with a source close to Duke later in the evening. I think, prior to yesterday, I didn't really feel that Duke was a major player for Gabriel, but after talking to both sources yesterday, I realized that I might be wrong. I think Duke could be a leader here, and if not, they are definitely up near the top. I think we will have a better read on the Gabriel situation later this month, after the staff does their in-home visit on Sept 9th. The Duke staff will meet with Gabriel, his brother and his mother on the visit. His list currently sits at five -- Duke, Kentucky, Maryland, Providence and UConn.
- DJ Harvey will take an unofficial visit to Duke this weekend. The 2017 WF/SG from DeMatha will also stop by NC State and North Carolina. I believe Capel is the point man on this recruitment, and has been in regular contact with DJ and his father.
- If you cruise the Internet, you may come across some Harry Giles rumors. The 6-10 PF, who is now at Oak Hill Academy in rural Mouth of Wilson, VA, is getting a lot of hearsay innuendos about Wake Forest. There are some people that believe that the Demon Deacons could be the leader now in the recruitment. And while I can certainly respect that Danny Manning has done a great job recruiting Giles (he really has). I do not buy the hearsay at all. I'm going to remain firm in believing that Duke is the strong team to beat as this recruitment winds down. I'm always on the look-out for manufactured suspense. Not saying this is that -- but my radar always goes off when the days wind down.
- USA Basketball minicamp in Colorado Springs is right around the corner. In less than one month, we will once again fly out to what we consider the best event all year for prep hoops. It's where we get to see the stars of tomorrow, often times before the kids become the house-hold names. This was an event that we first saw kids such as Michael Porter Jr, Troy Brown, Wendell Carter, Marvin Bagley III, Trevon Duval, Jarred Vanderbilt, Austin Wiley and many many more. I hope to have some new names to share with you next month.
- It will probably be a month before our next Confidence Meter, but if we had to slot the 2016s right now, we'd have Gabriel at a 7.0, Bolden at a 7.0 and DeLaurier at a 4.0. The first two would be trending upwards too.
- Cherish this time, if you follow Duke recruiting. They are as hot as I have ever seen them on the trail.
