Monday, April 20, 2015

Duke is putting an all-out recruiting blitz on 5-star wing Brandon Ingram

Duke is after its third McDonald's All-American for next season.

Brandon Ingram is one of the most highly coveted players left in the class of 2015, and the 6'8 wing out of North Carolina is ready to make his decision. Ingram is choosing between North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, N.C. State, Kentucky and UCLA and will announce his choice on April 27.

Ingram is hosting coaches on in-home visits over the week before making his choice. Duke got the first meeting on April 17, followed by Kentucky. Ingram hosted Kansas on Saturday and is set to welcome N.C. State on Monday. Duke will visit again on Tuesday and North Carolina gets the final meeting on Wednesday.

With the first and second-to-last visit, it sure seems like Duke is doing everything it can to get Ingram. Point guard might be a bigger position of need right now for the Blue Devils with Quinn Cook graduating and Tyus Jones off to the NBA, but there's a spot available on the wing too after Justise Winslow left after his freshman year.

Ingram's recruitment has been considered a two-horse race between North Carolina and Duke for some time. Ingram has strong UNC connections. He played for Jerry Stackhouse's Stackhouse Elite grassroots team on the summer circuit and went to the same high school (Kingston) Stackhouse attended.

Ingram had previously said he may have committed to UNC already if not for the academic scandal hanging over the school.

Duke is at the other end of the spectrum by making a strong late push. The Blue Devils will be without four starters from the team that won the national title, but do have some solid pieces returning in sophomore guard Grayson Allen, senior big man Amile Jefferson and junior wing Matt Jones. Duke already has two McDonald's All-Americans coming in for next year in shooting guard Luke Kennard and center Chase Jeter.

Duke is also making a push for transfer point guard Dylan Ennis from Villanova and is reportedly trying to convince two highly-touted point guards in the class of 2016 to reclassify for next season in Jamal Murray and Derryck Thornton.

247 Sports currently projects Duke with a 70 percent chance to land Ingram.



Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1bkYhzA

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