Gary Trent Jr. (Photo : Twitter)
Two blueblood schools who have taken the top spots in the past three years are the favorites, but another recruiting dark horse beckons.
Duke and Kentucky are setting their sights on the top targets as usual. Blue chips are on the radar and scheduled for visits.
The Blue Devils have the inside track on their primary targets, Team USA stalwarts Wendell Carter, Jr and Kevin Knox because they already have teammate Gary Trent in the bag.
Trent is the 8th ranked recruit in ESPN 100 and as he confirmed when he was recruited, he plans to bring America's best high school forwards with him. Trent revealed his reason for picking Duke in his USA Today blog.
"I picked Duke because of Coach K," Trent stated. "He's a brand himself and his track record is amazing. He's the winningest coach of all-time and I truly believe that he can do nothing but improve and benefit my life in every way, shape and form."
He cited UCLA and Michigan State as the other schools he considered but was impressed by how Coach K convinced Kobe Bryant to pass the ball more.
"If you can make Kobe Bryant change his whole game based on what you said, that's big. If you have respect from Kobe Bryant to that level, that's really saying something."
He also confirmed that he and Wendell Carter have been talking about picking the same college for a long time. Duke has gained success with "package deals" in the past two years (Jahlil Okafor/Tyus Jones and Harry Giles/Jayson Tatum).
Kentucky only has one five-star recruit as yet but expect that to drastically change when all is said and done. They have a fair shot at Knox, but they have targets at every position-Mohammed Bamba, the top slotman remaining on the board and Trae Young, a five star point guard (no.15 in ESPN 100) and Hamadou Diallo, the third ranked shooting guard after Trent and Alabama's Collin Sexton.
However, both teams could be toppled by another recruiting giant. Arizona pulled the rug on the bluebloods by signing center DeAndre Ayton, the overall top recruit.
In this report by Arizona Desert Swarm, the team is optimistic of their chances with shooting guard Lonnie Walker, especially if top rival Kentucky gets Diallo. They are also in the running for Trevon Duval, the top ranked point guard in the country. However, as Duval re-opened his recruitment, both Duke and Kentucky are also on the prowl along with all the other top colleges.
It's a safer bet that the 2017 top recruiting class will come from these three as opposed to the field.
