Duke might have lost potential No. 1 pick Brandon Ingram to the NBA but the Blue Devils are going to be just fine. Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski is proving he can navigate the new recruiting environment with the best of them, and the incoming freshman class could be the school’s best ever.
Prior to Thursday, Duke already boasted three five-star recruits in its 2016 class: Power forward Harry Giles (No. 1 overall), small forward Jayson Tatum (No. 3 overall), and point guard Frank Jackson (No. 10 overall). The Blue Devils also had four-star Javin DeLaurier (No. 44 overall) and Australian Jack White in the fold as well. Just when you thought Coach K was done, the program received a commitment from yet another five-star recruit Thursday afternoon — Center Marques Bolden (No. 16 overall).
https://twitter.com/MarquesB__/status/733368705267077124
This recruiting class alone is enough to warrant putting Duke in the preseason top-five. However, the Blue Devils will also return guard Grayson Allen, who averaged 21.6 points per game last season, as well as forward Amile Jefferson, guard Matt Jones, and guard Luke Kennard.
Next season’s Blue Devil squad has the potential to go down as one of college basketball’s all-time great teams.
Trying to think of seasons when Duke was this loaded at the start. '91-92 (Laettner-Hurley-Hill) and '98-99 (Brand-Avery-Meggette) maybe.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) May 19, 2016
Krzyzewski has really flexed his recruiting muscles in recent seasons. Even the previously undisputed king of recruiting John Calipari has to be a little nervous at Duke’s recent successes.
In the last 4 classes Duke has prospects ranked: 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 18, 22, 22, 25, 26 & 41. 15 5-stars in the 4 year span.
— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) May 19, 2016
There was some recent hubbub over thinly-veiled comments Calipari made that seemed to be directed at Krzyzewski and the Duke program. Although Calipari denied this allegation, the implication was still lingering at the time of Bolden’s decision.
That means giving them the fishing rod and the lures to help them catch fish, not to just give them the fish. https://t.co/29F63kNUQu
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) May 9, 2016
Kentucky was one of the schools Bolden was considering before he chose Duke, so the Blue Devils official Twitter account had a little fun with Calipari’s fishing reference.
https://twitter.com/avi_zaleon/status/733373521309536256
The tweet was quickly deleted but the sentiment remains. There is no love lost between these two programs and we can only hope the college basketball gods will deliver a Kentucky-Duke matchup at some point next season.
Duke finally possesses one of the super teams that Kentucky was famous for in recent years. Both the 2013-14 and 2014-15 Wildcats teams made it to the Final Four, but fell short of the ultimate prize. It will be interesting to see if Coach K’s bunch has better fortune than their Kentucky counterparts, or if another unassuming team can knock the Blue Devils off their championship track.
