2024 Men's Basketball Recruiting

[Pghdukie]

McNeely to UConn

[AGDukesky]

McNeely to UConn

Can’t blame him

[SkyBrickey]

McNeely to UConn

Given the crazy free agency world we are in, why don't more HS kids wait to make their decision late in the cycle like McNeely? Seems like a wise move.

[trinity79]

Given the crazy free agency world we are in, why don't more HS kids wait to make their decision late in the cycle like McNeely? Seems like a wise move.

Why not go straight to the portal from HS and really jeep your options open?

[Spanarkel]

Given the crazy free agency world we are in, why don't more HS kids wait to make their decision late in the cycle like McNeely? Seems like a wise move.

McNeely initially committed to IU in October of 2023, then decommitted in early March.

[scottdude8]

On3 just released their final Class of 2024 rankings: https://www.on3.com/db/rankings/player/basketball/2024/

Interestingly, they seem to be much lower on our class than other sources I've seen. Maluach is their #9, Kneuppel their #17, Evans their #25, and Ngongba their #35. The latter three are 4*s rather than 5*s, although On3 was somewhat stingy with that fifth star (only the Top 14 players got it).

Will be interesting to see if this is reflected in other rankings and if this perhaps gives some insight into how Jon has attacked the portal... perhaps he's expecting less from the freshman class outside of Flagg and Maluach than we might have thought.

[MChambers]

On3 just released their final Class of 2024 rankings: https://www.on3.com/db/rankings/player/basketball/2024/

Interestingly, they seem to be much lower on our class than other sources I've seen. Maluach is their #9, Kneuppel their #17, Evans their #25, and Ngongba their #35. The latter three are 4*s rather than 5*s, although On3 was somewhat stingy with that fifth star (only the Top 14 players got it).

Will be interesting to see if this is reflected in other rankings and if this perhaps gives some insight into how Jon has attacked the portal... perhaps he's expecting less from the freshman class outside of Flagg and Maluach than we might have thought.

Darren Harris at #43, despite his recent outperformance.

[bluedevilwildcats]

On3 just released their final Class of 2024 rankings: https://www.on3.com/db/rankings/player/basketball/2024/

Interestingly, they seem to be much lower on our class than other sources I've seen. Maluach is their #9, Kneuppel their #17, Evans their #25, and Ngongba their #35. The latter three are 4*s rather than 5*s, although On3 was somewhat stingy with that fifth star (only the Top 14 players got it).

Will be interesting to see if this is reflected in other rankings and if this perhaps gives some insight into how Jon has attacked the portal... perhaps he's expecting less from the freshman class outside of Flagg and Maluach than we might have thought.

Definitely interesting. So much can change between when you identify your high school prospects and when they get on campus. In that way, the Portal offers a way to plug any gaps that develop. I think the ideal scenario is we bring in Portal guys before the deadline, so that current recruits can enter the portal if they think they've been recruited over and don't envision being happy in a deep bench role.

[MChambers]

Definitely interesting. So much can change between when you identify your high school prospects and when they get on campus. In that way, the Portal offers a way to plug any gaps that develop. I think the ideal scenario is we bring in Portal guys before the deadline, so that current recruits can enter the portal if they think they've been recruited over.

I think for high school recruits the process is different. They ask to be released from their letters of intent, like McNeely did this year. Most schools will do that. So the portal is not an option for them, and the deadline is irrelevant (a big grey thing with four legs and a trunk).

[crote]

On3 just released their final Class of 2024 rankings: https://www.on3.com/db/rankings/player/basketball/2024/

Interestingly, they seem to be much lower on our class than other sources I've seen. Maluach is their #9, Kneuppel their #17, Evans their #25, and Ngongba their #35. The latter three are 4*s rather than 5*s, although On3 was somewhat stingy with that fifth star (only the Top 14 players got it).

Will be interesting to see if this is reflected in other rankings and if this perhaps gives some insight into how Jon has attacked the portal... perhaps he's expecting less from the freshman class outside of Flagg and Maluach than we might have thought.

Eh, these aren't that far off from most other rankings. The 247 Composite has Maluach at 6, Kon at 16, Evans at 15, and Ngongba at 26. The only ones that are notably different from On3 are Evans and Ngongba, but not dramatically so. Maybe it's just me, but my expectations for the #15 versus #25 player aren't that different. I also noticed that On3 is high on a couple international prospects (#16 Nolan Traore and #28 Neoklis Avdalas) who 247 doesn't rank at all, which affects the relative position of our guys in the same range.

[SkyBrickey]

Eh, these aren't that far off from most other rankings. The 247 Composite has Maluach at 6, Kon at 16, Evans at 15, and Ngongba at 26. The only ones that are notably different from On3 are Evans and Ngongba, but not dramatically so. Maybe it's just me, but my expectations for the #15 versus #25 player aren't that different. I also noticed that On3 is high on a couple international prospects (#16 Nolan Traore and #28 Neoklis Avdalas) who 247 doesn't rank at all, which affects the relative position of our guys in the same range.

Ngongba missed his whole senior season and is still playing himself back into shape, so I don't think his drop in ranking means much.

Harris at #43 calls all of On3 into question for me. He played at a VERY high level against the top teams in the country in that recent national tourney. He's not the quickest or most explosive athlete, but there's no way there are even close to 42 better players in this class.

Evans drop in the rankings is a bit more concerning. He did kind of disappear in these all star games. But he looked unstoppable playing against good competition late in his HS season. It will be really interesting to see how much he and K2 can contribute as freshmen.

[bluedevilwildcats]

Ngongba missed his whole senior season and is still playing himself back into shape, so I don't think his drop in ranking means much.

Harris at #43 calls all of On3 into question for me. He played at a VERY high level against the top teams in the country in that recent national tourney. He's not the quickest or most explosive athlete, but there's no way there are even close to 42 better players in this class.

Evans drop in the rankings is a bit more concerning. He did kind of disappear in these all star games. But he looked unstoppable playing against good competition late in his HS season. It will be really interesting to see how much he and K2 can contribute as freshmen.

With Evans, he may just not be physically ready, not sure I've ever seen skinnier legs. I recall in the McD game, he literally bounced off a driving Ian Jackson before Flagg blocked the shot.

[SkyBrickey]

With Evans, he may just not be physically ready, not sure I've ever seen skinnier legs. I recall in the McD game, he literally bounced off a driving Ian Jackson before Flagg blocked the shot.

I'd be just fine with Evans as an All ACC junior year starter.

[crote]

Harris at #43 calls all of On3 into question for me. He played at a VERY high level against the top teams in the country in that recent national tourney. He's not the quickest or most explosive athlete, but there's no way there are even close to 42 better players in this class.

People are all over the place with Harris. On3 has him 43, ESPN has him 29, Rivals at 38, 247 at 51. Part of that is probably evaluators parting ways on how to value tools that aren't his strong suit. I also wonder how much of it is anchoring bias based on where they had him initially, since his rankings a year ago were generally much lower than they are today (Rivals moved him up 40 spots in their latest re-rank, the second biggest riser on their board I believe).

[The_Dukester]

On3 just released their final Class of 2024 rankings: https://www.on3.com/db/rankings/player/basketball/2024/

Interestingly, they seem to be much lower on our class than other sources I've seen. Maluach is their #9, Kneuppel their #17, Evans their #25, and Ngongba their #35. The latter three are 4*s rather than 5*s, although On3 was somewhat stingy with that fifth star (only the Top 14 players got it).

Will be interesting to see if this is reflected in other rankings and if this perhaps gives some insight into how Jon has attacked the portal... perhaps he's expecting less from the freshman class outside of Flagg and Maluach than we might have thought.

So I just looked at On3's 2025 NBA mock draft. They have Maluach as the 3rd pick, but he's 9th in his class on the same site. That math aint mathing

[scottdude8]

So I just looked at On3's 2025 NBA mock draft. They have Maluach as the 3rd pick, but he's 9th in his class on the same site. That math aint mathing

Not necessarily. Impact in college isn’t always directly translatable to NBA potential…

[cato]

I'd be just fine with Evans as an All ACC junior year starter.

These days we need to specify “All ACC junior year starter at Duke.”

[cbolden1]

So I just looked at On3's 2025 NBA mock draft. They have Maluach as the 3rd pick, but he's 9th in his class on the same site. That math aint mathing

Here's a BIG reason not to pay attention to ON3 for recruiting. On ESPN the 50th ranked player is rated a 87, ON3 has the 60th ranked player as a 95. So Cooper Flagg is a 99 as the number 1 player and is only 4 points better than the 60th best player

[King of Defense]

So I just looked at On3's 2025 NBA mock draft. They have Maluach as the 3rd pick, but he's 9th in his class on the same site. That math aint mathing

I could see that. The draft is generally about potential. Recruiting rankings are probably best considered as a gauge of immediate impact -- especially today, when it's pretty unlikely someone like Maluach will do the next four years of his development at Duke.

So if he's seen as a little more raw than their No. 5 guy in this class, he could still be that high in the mock draft because they figure he'll be an absolute monster in 3-4 years, 2-3 of which he'll have spent in the NBA.

(Put another way: Based on immediate impact, Corey Maggette wouldn't have been drafted as highly as he was. So it's not really new.)

[gofurman]

Any idea who Duke is looking at? Which guys ?