I haven't researched this, but - do teams that tried to recruit a player from high school (but lost that battle) have a leg up when the player enters the portal a year or two later? There is some kind of relationship there, and I think that would be a positive for a player that has a rather short window to pick a new home. Who knows, there may even be a player who feels guilty at having said no to a school previously.
2025 Men's Basketball Recruiting
- Thread starter DavidBenAkiva
- Start date
I haven't researched this, but - do teams that tried to recruit a player from high school (but lost that battle) have a leg up when the player enters the portal a year or two later? There is some kind of relationship there, and I think that would be a positive for a player that has a rather short window to pick a new home. Who knows, there may even be a player who feels guilty at having said no to a school previously.
brevity
Member
I've been casually-to-intensely following the transfer portal, and just going off vague and general notions, I'm mildly surprised by how often that doesn't happen.
Applying this to Duke's departing transfers (each link is to the player's old 247 Sports high school recruiting page)...
Sean Stewart: Yes. Ohio State (and 2nd place Georgetown) offered, and were 2 of the 4 schools he officially visited as a high schooler.
TJ Power: Yes. Virginia offered back then, and he visited them. (2nd place Boston College also offered, and while no official visit is listed, he is from the state of Massachusetts.)
Mark Mitchell: Yes. Missouri offer, official visit.
Jaden Schutt: No. Virginia Tech was not on his list. His offers were Duke, Florida, and a bunch of Midwest teams. He only visited Duke and Michigan State.
Christian Reeves: No. Clemson was not listed. He did visit South Carolina, though.
Jaylen Blakes: To be decided. No official visits are listed at all for back then. Aside from Duke, he received offers from Boston College, Connecticut, DePaul, East Carolina, Georgetown, Georgia, Harvard, Illinois, Iona, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, St. John's, Stanford, Texas, VCU, Virginia Tech, and Yale.
Jeremy Roach: No. Baylor wasn't listed. Though it was a long time ago, before Scott Drew won a title.
You might notice that the answers go from Yes to No as the player gets older. I hesitate to call it a trend because things change at other schools. Sean Stewart may have been interested in Ohio State and Georgetown back then, but current head coaches Jake Diebler and Ed Cooley weren't in charge at the time. Diebler was a Buckeyes assistant, and Cooley was at Providence.
Nice work!
Thanks, Brev!
gam7
Member
Maybe Alfred, Lord Tennyson was talking about future college basketball recruiting when he wrote, "Tis better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all."
So, my takeaway is that it would be best for Jon to calibrate his recruiting so that high school recruits in the 15-30 range consider Duke to be their second best option!
brevity
Member
There's no obvious place to put this, but it could have a direct impact on 2025 recruiting, so...
USA Basketball: Thirty Athletes Expected to Participate in USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team Training Camp
There are 5 players from the class of 2024, including Duke commit Patrick Ngongba II. There are 22 from the class of 2025, including Duke targets Nate Ament, Meleek Thomas, and Caleb Wilson.
Jon Scheyer will also be in Colorado Springs; he's been selected as one of the on-court coaches during training camp, so he will be working directly with the players. I assume his duties are done after that; Tommy Lloyd, Grant McCasland, and Micah Shrewsberry are taking the team down to Argentina.
USA Basketball: Thirty Athletes Expected to Participate in USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team Training Camp
There are 5 players from the class of 2024, including Duke commit Patrick Ngongba II. There are 22 from the class of 2025, including Duke targets Nate Ament, Meleek Thomas, and Caleb Wilson.
Jon Scheyer will also be in Colorado Springs; he's been selected as one of the on-court coaches during training camp, so he will be working directly with the players. I assume his duties are done after that; Tommy Lloyd, Grant McCasland, and Micah Shrewsberry are taking the team down to Argentina.
JasonEvans
Host, The Duke Basketball Roundup
Several players Duke has offered are going to be participating in the camp -- Nate Ament, Meleek Thomas, and Caleb Wilson.
As an aside, I live a half mile from Caleb Wilson's high school. I may need to head over there to check out one of his games.
SkyBrickey
Member
I live a couple miles away JE. Let me know when you want to throw on some Duke gear and do a takeover of the HI gym!
brevity
Member
ZagsBlog: No. 6 junior Meleek Thomas updates recruitment, will look to take visits in June
In the article, Thomas described 5 schools with varying levels of intensity. Connecticut, Arkansas, and Alabama have amped up their attention, while Kentucky and Duke have held steady.
In the article, Thomas described 5 schools with varying levels of intensity. Connecticut, Arkansas, and Alabama have amped up their attention, while Kentucky and Duke have held steady.
SkyBrickey
Member
Foster, Meleek Thomas, Harris, K2, Evans could be a nice 5-man rotation at the 1-3 next season. All excellent to elite shooters...
DBKilby
Member
Foster, Meleek Thomas, Harris, K2, Evans could be a nice 5-man rotation at the 1-3 next season. All excellent to elite shooters...
Based on that quote that Thomas said about Duke, it appears Duke has found someone else they like better. I think its Burries. He has really turned it up the last few months.
SkyBrickey
Member
A couple of services list Burries as a combo guard. That's actually a better fit with the above hypothetical rotation because we'd need another guy to play backup PG minutes.
BandAlum83
Member
Count me in!
brevity
Member
ZagsBlog: Five-star wing Caleb Wilson getting coached by Duke’s Jon Scheyer at USA Camp, updates recruitment
Verbal Commits shows offers from 30 schools. Wilson plans to narrow that down to 8-10 soon. The above article mentions, in passing, a total of 8 schools: Arkansas, Duke, Georgia Tech, and Tennessee, plus previous official visits to Auburn, Kentucky, Stanford, and UNC.
brevity
Member
I mentioned this in the 2024 recruiting thread because of Ngongba, and am following up here.
USA Basketball: 2024 USA Basketball Men's U18 National Team Announced
The article links to a PDF roster that lists Ngongba as a 6-10 center and Ament as a 6-8 wing.
gam7
Member
Is it a surprise that Caleb Wilson didn’t make the team?
SkyBrickey
Member
Yeah, I'd say so. He's around the 6th ranked recruit in the class. You never know what happened. Could be a very minor injury...
brevity
Member
On3: AJ Dybantsa holds on to the No. 1 spot in updated 2025 On3 150
I guess a Super Double Plus Good designation would be excessive. Anyway, here are some of the top names; the 9 recruits with Duke offers (according to Verbal Commits) are in bold.
1. AJ Dybantsa, SF, 6-8, 185 (Five-Star Plus+)
2. Cameron Boozer, PF, 6-9, 205 (Five-Star Plus+)
3. Caleb Wilson, PF, 6-9, 195 (Five-Star Plus+)
4. Darryn Peterson, SG, 6-5, 195 (Five-Star Plus+)
5. Isiah Harwell, SG, 6-5, 190 (Five-Star Plus+)
6. Chris Cenac, PF, 6-10, 210
7. Meleek Thomas, SG, 6-3, 175 (Five-Star Plus+)
8. Nate Ament, SF, 6-8, 170
9. Koa Peat, PF, 6-8, 220 (Five-Star Plus+)
10. Will Riley, SF, 6-8, 180
16. Jalen Haralson, SF, 6-6, 205
23. Brayden Burries, CG, 6-4, 185
29. Cayden Boozer, PG, 6-3, 190
Click over to On3's rankings to see how they gauge which teams are most likely to get a commitment for each player. Right now Duke appears to be in the lead for none of them.
I guess a Super Double Plus Good designation would be excessive. Anyway, here are some of the top names; the 9 recruits with Duke offers (according to Verbal Commits) are in bold.
1. AJ Dybantsa, SF, 6-8, 185 (Five-Star Plus+)
2. Cameron Boozer, PF, 6-9, 205 (Five-Star Plus+)
3. Caleb Wilson, PF, 6-9, 195 (Five-Star Plus+)
4. Darryn Peterson, SG, 6-5, 195 (Five-Star Plus+)
5. Isiah Harwell, SG, 6-5, 190 (Five-Star Plus+)
6. Chris Cenac, PF, 6-10, 210
7. Meleek Thomas, SG, 6-3, 175 (Five-Star Plus+)
8. Nate Ament, SF, 6-8, 170
9. Koa Peat, PF, 6-8, 220 (Five-Star Plus+)
10. Will Riley, SF, 6-8, 180
16. Jalen Haralson, SF, 6-6, 205
23. Brayden Burries, CG, 6-4, 185
29. Cayden Boozer, PG, 6-3, 190
Click over to On3's rankings to see how they gauge which teams are most likely to get a commitment for each player. Right now Duke appears to be in the lead for none of them.
SkyBrickey
Member
It will be very interesting to see how this 2025 recruiting class comes together. If Jon loads up on multiple OADs then it's likely that multiple of Brown, K2, Evans, Ngongba, Harris hit the portal.
The big uncertainty with the current players will be whether one or both of Proctor/Foster return. Jon doesn't have an offer out to a clear replacement PG which might indicate he's expecting one of Foster or Proctor to be back next year.
I would be really happy with a small class of either Boozer or Caleb Wilson (to share the frontcourt minutes with Brown and Ngongba), Brayden Burries who is ranked higher in other services (to give us depth at the 1/2) and maybe Jaylen Harralson and/or Cayden Boozer to give us multi-year depth.
Jon could then hit the portal for maybe a backup big man and potentially a starting PG if both Proctor and Foster leave for the NBA.
The above scenario would mean a lot of returning talent and probably produce a top10, top5 type team with the end of the Covid year super teams.
The big uncertainty with the current players will be whether one or both of Proctor/Foster return. Jon doesn't have an offer out to a clear replacement PG which might indicate he's expecting one of Foster or Proctor to be back next year.
I would be really happy with a small class of either Boozer or Caleb Wilson (to share the frontcourt minutes with Brown and Ngongba), Brayden Burries who is ranked higher in other services (to give us depth at the 1/2) and maybe Jaylen Harralson and/or Cayden Boozer to give us multi-year depth.
Jon could then hit the portal for maybe a backup big man and potentially a starting PG if both Proctor and Foster leave for the NBA.
The above scenario would mean a lot of returning talent and probably produce a top10, top5 type team with the end of the Covid year super teams.