Zachary Lyon:
Future150 Regional Analyst. Covering high and middle school basketball: NC, SC & VA
Durham, NC (Future150) -- In this article, Future150 will take a look at Duke's current four man recruiting class and breakdown what each player will bring to the table.
Harry Giles, PF, Winston-Salem (NC): Giles is Duke's most recent commit as he announced for Duke on ESPN about a week ago. He is also a recent victim of the injury bug as he tore his ACL in Oak Hill's first game of the season. He should be healthy once Duke starts the 2016-17 season, and he will be one of the main focal points on both ends of the floor. Giles is a freak of nature and has such a smooth game to go along with crazy physical traits and athleticism. Expect Giles to stick around Durham for only a season.
Jayson Tatum, G/F, St. Louis (MO): Since Giles will be fresh off an ACL injury to start the season, Tatum may be the go-to scorer early on in the season. Even when Giles is back to full strength, Tatum could very easily be the number one option for the entire season. He is possibly the most versatile player in the country and will be able to help Duke in plenty of ways. Like his buddy Harry, Jayson will most likely be a one-and-done and be a top five pick.
Frank Jackson, CG, Highland (UT): Jackson could be the most vital piece to this class depending on how Derryck Thornton's freshman season goes, and if he forgoes his final years of college for the NBA Draft. Either way Jackson will bring a dynamic offensive skill-set to the Blue Devils, and should get plenty of minutes especially if Grayson Allen decides to put his name into the NBA Draft after his Sophomore season. Like Tatum, and Giles he is a versatile player that will likely be able to play the one through three. Only playing the three in small ball line-ups, like Matt Jones did last season. Frank could very well be a one-and-done as he oozes potential to be fantastic go-to scorer off the dribble and off the catch.
Javin DeLaurier, PF, Shipman (VA): DeLaurier may be the Grayson Allen of this class. He will be highly-touted coming in but due to the depth in front of him (Sean Obi, Antonio Vrankovic, Justin Robinson) he might be the guy who gets minutes sparingly and is expected to bring energy and hustle to the floor. At the same time Javin is a very skilled four-man that can run the floor well and make a living on scoring of offensive rebounds, and put back slams. The distribution of his minutes will be interesting to see heading into the 2016-17 season.
Not Finished?
Duke is still recruiting Marques Bolden out of DeSoto, TX who is arguably the #1 center in the 2016 class. DeSoto is the same location and high school Matt Jones played at and the Blue Devils are certainly still recruiting Bolden hard to add a cherry on top to this already top ranked class. Duke does not have such a stronghold on this recruitment like they did on the other four guys they landed, but they will certainly be a option once decision day arrives for Bolden.
Continue to follow along with Future150 as we track the recruitment process of the remaining high-level unsigned Seniors.
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