If you haven’t heard by now, legendary Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski is at it again.
Duke has finished with a top 3 class each of the past three years, which includes this year’s incoming class. Featuring five-star prospects such as Brandon Ingram, Chase Jeter and Derryck Thornton.
John Calipari and Kentucky are still at the top of the hill in terms of recruiting, but Coach K is making things interesting at a very rapid pace.
It all started with Kyrie Irving, who was a top-10 player out of high school in the 2010 class. Irving’s commitment ignited a flurry of very, very talented kids calling Durham home, albeit just for one season. Austin Rivers, Jabari Parker, Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow all fit the billing.
After Duke defeated Wisconsin for the National Championship this past April, Badgers head coach Bo Ryan seemingly took a Mayweather like jab at Coach K and his staff for recruiting one and done guys.
“All the seniors that I’ve had — hard to say the word. But every player that’s played through the program, okay, we don’t do a rent-a-player. You know what I mean? Try to take a fifth-year guy. That’s okay. If other people do that, that’s okay. I like trying to build from within. It’s just the way I am. And to see these guys grow over the years and to be here last year and lose a tough game, boom, they came back.”
As Duke looks to repeat in 2016, maybe this time next year they’ll be aiming for a 3-peat.
Jayson Tatum, 17, committed to Duke after his St. Louis Eagles squad defeated Team CP3 and top rated Harry Giles in a 74-73 thriller at the Nike Peach Jam tournament.
Tatum is rated as the number two player of the 2016 class.
“I love the way the program is run and I love the way the academics are set up,” Tatum said of Duke. “My relationships with the Duke coaches were the best, and they made me a priority. They did the best job of recruiting me and have been at almost all my games, and that means a lot.”
The 6-foot-9, 190 pound wing from Chaminade College Prep only took one official visit to Durham, which is all he needed at the end of the day.
“I love Coach K’s passion to coach his players and to coach the game,” Tatum said. “I examined and watched the interaction between him and his staff, along with the players, and was impressed how hard they played.”
Tatum’s early commitment is Duke’s lone one for the 2016 class thus far, but don’t worry Blue Devil fans. At the rate Coach K is going at, it’ll only be the first of many.
Will the highly touted Harry Giles be one of the many to join Tatum?
All signs point to yes.
The tandem has played together three straight summers for USA basketball. They’ve roomed together and have discussed the possibility of playing together in the collegiate ranks.
“Harry is one of my best friends and he’s a great player,” Tatum said. “We’ve known each other since we were 11. Playing USA Basketball, we had a lot of down time to talk about things like that. First, we gotta see what schools accommodate things that we want individually, and then after that … it could possibly happen.”
Giles is a 6-foot-10, 210 pound power forward. The five-star sensation attends high school at Wesleyan Christian Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which is just about an hour outside of Durham.
We hear about potential ‘package’ deals all the time, but how often do they actually come to fruition?
The answer to this is very far, few and in between. However, Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones went against the grain last year by completing a package deal to Duke.
When you think of dynamic freshmen duos over the year’s, combinations like Mike Conley/Greg Oden, Kevin Durant/D.J. Augustin, John Wall/DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis/Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Andrew Wiggins/Joel Embiid and even, Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones come to mind.
Of course, I can’t forget about the ‘Fab Five’. Just go ahead and pick any two players you want there.
Nonetheless, if Giles does indeed team up with his best friend, they could become the best freshmen duo ever. Just think about it, Giles and Tatum are the consensus top two players of this class.
What’s even more important is their friendship.
How often do we see super talented teams take a while to mesh as an unit or not mesh at all?
As Tatum mentioned, the two have known each other since they were 11-years-old and when you add in their experience of playing together on the court, they would be ahead of the competition at the next level.
Obviously, Tatum and Giles would have to get familiar with the rest of their running mates, but as a tandem, they could be scary productive.
Harry Giles Sr. is aiming for his son to make a decision by this fall.
“Hopefully in the next couple of months we’ll narrow it down and hopefully by November we’ll make a decision where we want to go. Before the start of the college season or right in the beginning of it.”
Back in 2012, Kentucky’s duo of Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist made history by becoming the first college teammates ever to go 1-2 in the NBA Draft.
Tatum and Giles could be up next in 2017, but if they’re teammates, winning a National Championship will be first on their to-do list.