Recruiting is supposed to be fickle and unpredictable, but Jon Scheyer is making this look easy. Duke landed Cooper Flagg to headline the top-ranked class of 2024 and less than a calendar year later, Cameron Boozer joined The Brotherhood with his highly-rated twin, Cayden, to boot.
Update the charts. Flagg and Cameron Boozer are the two best recruits Duke has ever landed in 247Sports’ modern recruiting rankings dating back to 2000.
Every general manager, coach and on-the-road scout is looking for the next great four-man. It’s arguably become the most important position in modern basketball because they’re needed to do, well, everything.
Rebound. Defend multiple positions. Shoot from 3-point range. Help dominate the paint defensively and offensively. Cover up space. Guard hefty centers and protect the rim. Switch onto lightning-quick point guards. Can you guard wings? Maybe do some early Christmas shopping, too, before you go?
Duke is going to have the best 4-man in the country for the next two seasons in a row, even if Scheyer might not get them on the floor together for a nanosecond.
Flagg is the favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He still has to earn it, but the hype is warranted. Lots can change between now and the 2025 NBA Draft, but Cameron Boozer or undecided phenom AJ Dybantsa is expected to be the No. 1 pick. Whoever goes No. 2 would go No. 1 in dozens of drafts.
Duke has done the five-star thing. They’ve had hyped recruits and lottery picks. And yet, this recruiting run feels different.
Welcome to the new golden era of Duke recruiting.
Flagg and Boozer provide symbols of proof that Duke has one of the elite roster-builders in the country. Scheyer, armed with a fierce determination to win a championship and plenty of self-awareness to become approachable, is cooking with gas.
His roster-construction decisions are foolproof and sound. Scheyer’s…
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