Duke basketball recruiting roundup: 2012-2014 classes
By Taylor Ostrick — Duke as always is in the midst of recruiting many different players from various classes. Coach K and the rest of the staff have been hard at work, attempting to get some of the top players in the country to come to Durham and play for the Blue Devils. With all the rumors that go around, following recruting can sometimes be confusing for a fan so here is a basic rundown of the players that Duke is actively recruiting in the 2012-2014 classes.
Class of 2012: Commitments (1)- Rasheed Sulaimon #11.
Offers (3)- Shabazz Muhammad #1, Amile Jefferson #21, Tony Parker #19
Rasheed Sulaimon(Committed): 6’4″ guard, Houston, Texas- Sulaimon officially signed with Duke during the early signing period and is the #2 guard in the class. The 6’4 guard is a force on both sides of the ball. He is not only one of the best pure scorers in the class but a great defender and a high character guy. (There is a reason he gets many comparisons to Nolan Smith) In other words, he is the exact type of guard that Coach K has made a habit of winning with year after year. Sulaimon is currently in the middle of his senior basketball season at Strake Jesuit High School, averaging 27.8 points per game. His team is 22-3, and he recently recorded his second straight 40+ point game. Sulaimon was recently selected to participate in the annual Jordan Brand Classic game and the McDonald’s All-American game, both of which feature some of most talented and highly ranked high school players in the country.
Shabazz Muhammad(Offered): 6’5″ small foward, Las Vegas, Nevada- Everyone knows Muhammad, the highly touted #1 player in the class who is considering Duke, Kentucky, UCLA, UNLV, USC, Texas A&M and Kansas. It has been well documented through comments from he and his father that Muhammad is not expected to make a decision until the spring signing period. Although he still pretty long list, many believe Kentucky, Duke and UCLA are in the lead for Muhammad. He has an excellent relationship with Coach K and it looks as though Duke will be in this one until the end. Shabazz is known for his offensive versatility, scoring, athleticsm, intensity, tenacious demeanor on the court. This is a player who has a serious killer instinct. He brings it every night and is a ferocious competitor. Muhammad is currently averaging 29.1 points per game in his senior season at Bishop Gorman High and will play in both the Jordan Brand Classic and the McDonald’s All-American game. Muhammad is scheduled to take his official visit to Duke in the spring for the North Carolina game.
Amile Jefferson (Offered)- 6’8″ power foward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania- Although not a true back to the basket post player, Jefferson is adept at facing the basket and scoring in the paint. He is a long, athletic player with a high motor and a great feel for the game. Perhaps his best quality is his feel for the game, as he is a smart player with a very high basketball IQ (think Shane Battier). A crucial detail to consider when looking at Jefferson’s recruitment is the importance that he puts on academics. He is currently averaging 21.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game at Friends Central High School. Duke, who recruited Jefferson when he was a sophmore before backing off, dove back into this recruitment in a big way. The Blue Devils contacted him in early January and offered him a scholarship shortly thereafter. Jefferson, whose father recently stated his son will likely make a decision towards the middle of February (once his high school season ends), has already visited Duke more then once and is very familiar with the Blue Devils’ coaching staff and basketball program. Amile is considering NC State, Duke, Villanova, UConn and Ohio State. NC State and Duke are widely considered the leaders for Jefferson’s services. Read more
Duke Recruits Selected For McDonald’s All-American Game
The future of Duke Basketball is still in flux as the Blue Devils still have committable scholarship offers out to 3 undecided players in the Class of 2012. Rasheed Sulaimon is the lone committed member of the senior class. The other players who may join him are Tony Parker, Amile Jefferson and Shabazz Muhammad.
All 3 of those players received invitations to the McDonald’s All-American game, which will be played on March 28th. The game will be live on ESPN at 9:30 PM EST.
Amile will join Tony Parker as frontcourt teammates on the West Team while Rasheed Sulaimon will play on the East Team with Shabazz Muhammad. See the entire roster at FiveStarBasketball.com here.
On the selection show broadcast on ESPNU, Shabazz Muhammad shared that he would make his college announcement sometime in April.
Duke Basketball Recruit Stats Tracker: Version 3.0
By Chad Lykins — The future for the Duke Blue Devils looks incredibly bright as they have picked up two commitments from two of the best scorers on the high school level in Rasheed Sulaimon (2012) and Matt Jones (2013). It won’t stop with just those two as the Blue Devils are in hot pursuit of 2012 prospects Shabazz Muhammad, Tony Parker, & Amile Jefferson and 2013 prospects Jabari Parker & Julius Randle (Editor’s Note – In this updated version, you will notice that Ricardo Gathers has been taken off of the list, as Duke has cooled on their recruitment of Gathers).
Here at Duke Hoop Blog, I will be following each of the 7 players above very closely through their junior and senior seasons. Check out their numbers listed below for game by game stats (as I have compiled) for each player:
Rasheed Sulaimon – Strake Jesuit (22-3) – 2012 Commit
Scoring Average: 27.8 ppg
11/14 vs. Jones – 92-67 W – 36 Pts.
11/18 vs. Dallas Jesuit – 72-67 W – 20 Pts.
11/22 vs. Wheatley – 87-75 W – 29 Pts.
11/26 vs. Lamar Consolidated – 64-43 W – 26 Pts.
11/29 vs. St. Thomas – 61-49 W – 20 Pts.
12/1 vs. Oakland Tech – 80-42 W – 28 Pts.
12/2 vs. Sheldon – 87-73 W – 26 Pts.
12/3 vs. Jesuit – 55-68 L – 21 Pts.
12/6 vs. Cypress Lakes – 66-67 L – 35 Pts.
12/12 vs. Chavez – 73-47 W – 32 Pts.
12/17 vs. Seven Lakes – 83-62 W – 32 Pts.
12/20 vs. Langham Creek – 74-73 W – 30 Pts.
12/28 vs. Garner – 63-76 L – 13 Pts.
12/29 vs. Wheeler – 70-63 W – 29 Pts.
12/30 vs. Middle Creek – 54-39 W – 21 Pts.
1/3 vs. Cinco Ranch – 52-41 W – 22 Pts.
1/6 vs. Morton Ranch – 59-52 W – 25 Pts.
1/10 vs. Mayde Creek – 83-57 W – 24 Pts.
1/13 vs. Memorial – 59-48 W – 30 Pts.
1/17 vs. Taylor – 59-51 W – 34 Pts.
1/20 vs. Katy – 81-45 W – 31 Pts.
1/24 vs. Seven Lakes – 74-61 W – 30 Pts.
1/27 vs. Cinco Ranch – 73-47 W – 20 Pts.
1/31 vs. Morton Ranch – 71-62 W – 40 Pts.
2/3 vs. Mayde Creek – 83-58 W – 41 Pts.
Matt Jones – Desoto (25-5) – 2013 Commit
Scoring Average: 18.6 ppg
11/14 vs. Dunbar – 85-56 W – 15 Pts.
11/17 vs. Manvel – 52-32 W – 15 Pts.
11/17 vs. Westlake – 59-55 W – 16 Pts.
11/18 vs. Berkner – 67-64 W – 19 Pts.
11/18 vs. FB Bush – 73-63 W – 35 Pts.
11/19 vs. FM Marcus – 42-55 L – 6 Pts.
11/22 vs. Richland – 40-41 L – 14 Pts.
11/26 vs. Wheeler – 65-42 W – 29 Pts.
12/1 vs. Fort Trimble Tech – 63-43 W – 14 Pts.
12/2 vs. Arlington – 66-26 W – 16 Pts.
12/3 vs. South Grand Prairie – 68-56 W – 30 Pts.
12/3 vs. Arlington Seguin – 67-57 W – 20 Pts.
12/6 vs. Conrad – 69-58 W – 24 Pts.
12/9 vs. Duncanville – 67-50 – 28 Pts.
12/13 vs. Pinkston – 63-35 W – 18 Pts.
12/20 vs. Trinity Christian – 59-39 W – 4 Pts.
12/28 vs. Coppell – 77-39 W – 22 Pts.
12/29 vs. Plano West – 46-53 L – 4 Pts.
12/30 vs. North Crowley – 61-43 W – 17 Pts.
12/30 vs. FM Marcus – 42-58 L – 24 Pts.
12/31 vs. Ennis – 51-37 W – 16 Pts.
1/3 vs. University – 51-41 W – 21 Pts.
1/7 vs. Lovejoy – 73-37 W – 27 Pts.
1/13 vs. North Mesquite – 46-34 W – 22 Pts.
1/17 vs. Lee – 50-31 W – 21 Pts.
1/20 vs. Horn – 57-43 W – 10 Pts.
1/24 vs. Mesquite – 52-55 L – 25 Pts.
1/27 vs. Longview – 66-48 W – 20 Pts.
1/31 vs. North Mesquite – 47-36 W 12 Pts.
2/3 vs. Lee – 51-31 W – 14 Pts.
Decison Could Be Coming Soon From Duke Target Amile Jefferson
By Taylor Ostrick — With a committment from Tony Parker looking less and less likely and the spring signing period drawing closer, Duke is still looking to make some final key additions to a 2012 class that at the moment only has one committment. Amile Jefferson, a talented 6’8 foward from Philidelphia is the latest 2012 player to earn an offer from the Blue Devils. Although Duke is jumping in late on this one (they contacted Jefferson earlier in January and offered him shortly after), Mike Krzyzewski and the staff have made up ground fast, not to mention Duke and Jefferson are far from strangers. The Blue Devils recruited Jefferson for a period in his sophomore year, he has already visited Duke’s campus and has a strong relationship with the Duke coaches.
“They got in touch with me and my father,” Jefferson told NBE of Duke. “They had been looking [at me during my] . . . sophomore year . . . The school speaks for itself.”
“He’s been to visit Duke a few times,” Musgrove said. “He’s been there as a freshman, he went there his junior year. He’s been on the campus a ton of times with AAU. He knows a little bit about the school.”
It is no secret Jefferson and his parents love Duke, from both a basketball and an academic perspective. Academics is very important to Jefferson, and it will likely be a large factor in his decision. Jefferson and his fater have recently said that his recruitment is winding down, and that he would like to make a decision soon, which could be as early as the end of January or the beginning of February.
“At the end of the week we’ll have a conversation and I think he could wrap this up in the next few weeks,” Malcolm Musgrove (father) said by phone. “I’m thinking by the end of January he will know.” Read more
Duke Basketball Recruit Stats Tracker: Version 2.0
By Chad Lykins — The future for the Duke Blue Devils looks incredibly bright as they have picked up two commitments from two of the best scorers on the high school level in Rasheed Sulaimon (2012) and Matt Jones (2013). It won’t stop with just those two as the Blue Devils are in hot pursuit of 2012 prospects Shabazz Muhammad, Tony Parker, Ricardo Gathers & as of last week Amile Jefferson (who was extended an offer on Sunday) and 2013 prospects Jabari Parker & Julius Randle.
Here at DukeHoopBlog.com, I will be following each of the 6 players above very closely through their junior and senior seasons. Check out their numbers listed below for game by game stats (as I have researched) for each player:
Rasheed Sulaimon – Strake Jesuit (14-3) – 2012 Commit
Scoring Average: 26.2 ppg
11/14 vs. Jones – 92-67 W – 36 Pts.
11/18 vs. Dallas Jesuit – 72-67 W – 20 Pts.
11/22 vs. Wheatley – 87-75 W – 29 Pts.
11/26 vs. Lamar Consolidated – 64-43 W – 26 Pts.
11/29 vs. St. Thomas – 61-49 W – 20 Pts.
12/1 vs. Oakland Tech – 80-42 W – 28 Pts.
12/2 vs. Sheldon – 87-73 W – 26 Pts.
12/3 vs. Jesuit – 55-68 L – 21 Pts.
12/6 vs. Cypress Lakes – 66-67 L – 35 Pts.
12/12 vs. Chavez – 73-47 W – 32 Pts.
12/17 vs. Seven Lakes – 83-62 W – 32 Pts.
12/20 vs. Langham Creek – 74-73 W – 30 Pts.
12/28 vs. Garner – 63-76 L – 13 Pts.
12/29 vs. Wheeler – 70-63 W – 29 Pts.
12/30 vs. Middle Creek – 54-39 L – 21 Pts.
1/3 vs. Cinco Ranch – 52-41 W – 22 Pts.
1/6 vs. Morton Ranch – 59-52 W – 25 Pts.
Matt Jones – Desoto (19-4) – 2013 Commit
Scoring Average: 18.9 ppg
11/14 vs. Dunbar – 85-56 W – 15 Pts.
11/17 vs. Manvel – 52-32 W – 15 Pts.
11/17 vs. Westlake – 59-55 W – 16 Pts.
11/18 vs. Berkner – 67-64 W – 19 Pts.
11/18 vs. FB Bush – 73-63 W – 35 Pts.
11/19 vs. FM Marcus – 42-55 L – 6 Pts.
11/22 vs. Richland – 40-41 L – 14 Pts.
11/26 vs. Wheeler – 65-42 W – 29 Pts.
12/1 vs. Fort Trimble Tech – 63-43 W – 14 Pts.
12/2 vs. Arlington – 66-26 W – 16 Pts.
12/3 vs. South Grand Prairie – 68-56 W – 30 Pts.
12/3 vs. Arlington Seguin – 67-57 W – 20 Pts.
12/6 vs. Conrad – 69-58 W – 24 Pts.
12/9 vs. Duncanville – 67-50 – 28 Pts.
12/13 vs. Pinkston – 63-35 W – 18 Pts.
12/20 vs. Trinity Christian – 59-39 W – 4 Pts.
12/28 vs. Coppell – 77-39 W – 22 Pts.
12/29 vs. Plano West – 46-53 L – 4 Pts.
12/30 vs. North Crowley – 61-43 W – 17 Pts.
12/30 vs. FM Marcus – 42-58 L – 24 Pts.
12/31 vs. Ennis – 51-37 W – 16 Pts.
1/3 vs. University – 51-41 W – 21 Pts.
1/7 vs. Lovejoy – 73-37 W – 27 Pts.
Jaquel Richmond To Visit Duke Sunday, January 1
Doing some research before the HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Invitational, the two players that would be participating in the event were Theo Pinson and Rasheed Sulaimon. One player who has received a lot of interest from the Duke Basketball program but is probably more under the radar to the casual Blue Devil fan is Pinson’s teammate and point guard, JaQuel Richmond.
Built like a pitbull, JaQuel is 6’0″ and is able to beat just about anyone off the dribble. The strength of Richmond’s game lies in his ability to get to the rim and finish through contact. Even he acknowledges that shooting is a weakness in his game “I’ve been working on my 3-pointer, that’s the weakest part of my game. I just put up 1,000 shots this past Monday.”
Like any good player though, JaQuel takes what the defense gives him and in this game on Tuesday, Miller School played him tight. He was able to score 19 points on 8-14 shooting, almost all of them driving layups or dunks. One of those misses was a two-handed try on a breakaway, but Richmond was able to corral his own miss and go right back up for an easy layup.
His talent is extremely advanced for a player a sophomore point guard, and many recruiting services have he and Tyus Jones at the top of their lists for this position.
Richmond will visit Duke on Sunday for the Pennsylvania game along with 2013 standout Julius Randle and possibly his current teammate Theo Pinson. Like Pinson, Jaquel grew up as a Duke fan so this visit (his second to Duke’s campus) will be special. Read more
Theo Pinson at Holiday Invitational Tournament
Leading up to the 2011 Holiday Invitational, I looked through the rosters of the teams for Duke Basketball targets that would be playing in Raleigh. Rasheed Sulaimon and Theo Pinson were the first two names to jump off the page at me. These are the only two players in the field currently holding a Duke scholarship offer, with Theo the youngest as a high school sophomore.
Catching his first game, it was immediately clear why Pinson garnered the offer at such a young age. Tenacious on defense and showcasing a wide range of offensive skills, the 6’6″ wing looked as comfortable on the blocks guarding bigger players as he did on the perimeter rising up for jumpers over smaller ones.
Theo finished the game with 15 points on 33% shooting from the field, connecting on two of four 3-point shots. His biggest impact however came on the defensive end, where I tallied 8 steals but he disrupted many more plays than that.
After the game, Theo spoke to the media and talked about the schools recruiting him, his upcoming visit to Georgetown, and the fact that he wants to play the 2 in college. At 6’6″ with his shooting ability and touch from nearly anywhere on the court, he would be a matchup nightmare as a shooting guard in the NCAA. Not unlike his favorite player to watch growing up, Kobe Bryant.
“When I grew up I was a Duke fan.”
Theo plays at the tournament again tonight at 9 PM, leading his Wesleyan Christian Academy team against NCSU commit Rodney Purvis’ Upper Room School. For more information, visit the Holiday Invitational Tournament website here or the HighSchoolOt.com site here.
Shabazz Muhammad at Beach Ball Classic
Highlights from the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, SC of 2012′s #1 player in the nation Shabazz Muhammad. He only played a half and you can see why based on the level of competition. Duke coaches Steve Wojciechowski, Mike Krzyzewski, and Jeff Capel will be heading down there to watch Bazz, Julius Randle, Jahlil Okafor and many other prospects until the Blue Devils’ game on Friday.
Duke Recruit Ricardo Gathers Interview
Duke Basketball has made recruiting a post player in the Class of 2012 a priority, choosing to focus on Tony Parker and Mitch McGary over the course of the last year and a half. While the McGary recruitment was short-lived and didn’t turn out the way the Blue Devils’ coaching staff would have liked, they are still running the race with Parker.
A new name popped up on Duke’s radar in December in former St. John’s commit Ricardo Gathers. You can learn more about Gathers here.
FiveStarBasketball.com recently conducted an interview with the 6’8″ Power Forward and asked for his comments on Duke. See what he had to say below.
On programs like Kentucky and Duke: “I feel like they are proven. Day in, day out they’re always going to be a Top 10 team. They’re always going to develop players and you’ll always see somebody coming out of their program. I’m a championship type dude. I want to win. I’m not just trying to show up and say hey how you doing. I want to be there.”
On Duke: “One thing they got, they got bigs. They got the Plumlee Brothers and I like what they’re doing with them. They’re utilizing them.”
On when he’ll make a decision: “Definitely by the next signing period.” (The NCAA Men’s Basketball Spring Signing Period runs from April 11th to May 16th of next year.)
Beach Ball Classic Starts Today in Myrtle Beach
While Duke recruits Rasheed Sulaimon and Theo Pinson will be playing in Raleigh this week, three other high school ballers high on Duke’s most wanted list will be down in Myrtle Beach competing in the Beach Ball Classic Tournament.
Shabazz Muhammad (2012), Julius Randle (2013), and Jahlil Okafor (2014) are all taking part in the event so if you’re in the area be sure to head over to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center to watch these guys in action.
If you’re not in the area, BeachBallClassic.com has live streams of all the games so you won’t have to miss the games if you can’t be in Myrtle.
To catch these three guys in action, be sure to go here at the following times: Read more
