The tug-of-war for the top player of 2016 heats up between arguably the top two college basketball recruiting machines.
It seems fated that the no.1 prospect of the 2016 Class would boil down to the schools who have dominated the recruiting landscape the past half-decade. Harry Giles is ranked the no.1 player in the ESPN 100 and he's down to one last scheduled visit.
Giles just attended Big Blue Madness, Kentucky's grand event to kick off the college season which is also the venue for its loudest recruiting pitch. Giles' reaction was very positive, as he tweets.
Zags Blog also had a comment from Giles' coach at Oak Hill Academy, the multi-titled Steve Smith:
"People think Duke is the leader, but I think from sitting in on parts of all of the visits, he told all the coaches he's not sure when he's going to sign and he's told everybody that he's wide open still," Smith commented on The 4 Quarters Podcast. "So he keeps it pretty close to the vest and he doesn't say much. "I know they all want him to go early and I think he's probably leaning to doing that but he could even extend it. Who knows?"
However, Coach K will still have the final say as Smith also mentioned that Giles will no longer visit ACC Rival University of North Carolina. In essence, it may be implied that the Tar Heels are out of the picture.
While the Wildcats of Calipari have definitely made their impression, the crucial visit will be at Durham, and ESPN observed that it might be by design.
"Giles has taken visits to Wake Forest, Kansas and Kentucky and has only Duke left -- which gives Coach K and staff the chance to make the final impression. The Blue Devils appear to still be firmly in the driver's seat."