Coach K Says Tatum, Bolden, Giles Won’t Play vs. Kansas
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said his trio
Gary Trent Jr., the 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Prolific Prep (CA), committed to Duke over Michigan State and UCLA on Thursday on ESPNU.
“In the fall of 2017, I will be attending Duke University,” he said. “The thing about Duke University, the brotherhood behind it, Coach K, there’s so many things about it that are top-tier, there’s no way you could turn it down.
“Just from how the practices are run to how they play together. Everything about it was just top of the line and I just loved everything about it.”
Prolific Prep coach Billy McKnight said Trent Jr. is on track to be in the NBA soon.
“Gary gets a lot of credit for his scoring ability and for good reason,” he said. “He’s a fantastic shooter from deep and can score from all three levels. What’s really impressed me is his ability to read the floor and make the right play. His unselfishness and passing ability to create for others really stands out. His father (Gary Trent Sr) and previous coaches have done a great job of teaching him how to play.
Wendell Carter Jr., who this summer won a gold medal with the USA U17 team and was named to the All-Star Five Team at the U17 World Championship in Spain, now plans to sign during the early signing period instead of in the spring.
The 6-foot-10 Carter Jr. out of Atlanta (GA) Pace Academy is considering Duke, Harvard, Georgia and Georgia Tech, and took his final visit to Georgia Tech this past weekend.
“I’m going to be signing early,” he told Rivals.com. “I’m just going to put it up on Twitter. I’m going to make a video and put it up on Twitter. I’m not sure when exactly it will be.”
The early signing period runs Nov. 9-16.
Duke remains the favorite for Carter Jr., who continues to talk with fellow Class of 2017 star Gary Trent Jr. about playing together in college. Trent Jr. has visited Duke, UCLA and Michigan State and recently said in his USA Today blog that both he and Carter Jr. “loved” their Duke visit — which they took together.
(AP) — Duke is in a familiar place to open the college basketball season.
The Blue Devils are the runaway choice for No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason Top 25 on Monday. It is the eighth time Duke has held the preseason No. 1 ranking. North Carolina has the most preseason No. 1s with nine and UCLA also has eight.
Duke was also the No. 1 pick in the USA Today/Coaches’ Poll.
The Blue Devils, who return three starters from last season’s team and have what is considered one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, received 58 of the 65 first-place votes from the national media panel.
Kentucky, which had two No. 1 votes, is second, while Kansas is third. Defending national champion Villanova had four first-place votes and was fourth while Oregon, which had the other No. 1 vote, is fifth.
Kevin Knox enjoyed his weekend official visit to Duke and is still planning a winter decision.
“It was real good,” the 6-foot-8 Class of 2017 small forward from Tampa (FL) Catholic and E1T1 said. “They have coached a lot of people that play like me, so that’s basically their message.”
Knox said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff compared him to former Duke great Grant Hill and current Pacers star Paul George, whom Coach K coached with the gold medal-winning Olympic team. Knox is currently projected as the No. 10 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft per DraftExpress.com.
Duke was Knox’s first official visit — and the only one prior to the NCAA early signing period Nov. 9-16.
