UA
Mike Krzyzewski and his Duke staff may have solidified the top recruiting class (at least for now) with the signing of the 6-8 wing forward Brandon Ingram, who will move to a top six spot nationally in our final rankings, over the weekend.
The Kinston, NC prep chose Duke over interest from North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA, and North Carolina State. He visited all the schools he considered before making his decision.
He was close to commiting to North Carolina last fall before the Academic problems the school had took them out. That gave Duke and the other schools an advantage that Duke did the job and closed on this spring.
Ingram entered the season coming off an injury that kept him out of action over last summer, but he showed with his play in February on through the All-Star games that he is one of the top ten talents in the class!
He is a stellar wing athlete with an explosive first step, handle to go either left or right, and the bounce and length to finish the drive at the rim over bigs with highlights! he has range to the arc that sets up his attack off the dribble and will give the Blue Devils a replacement for NBA bound Justise Winslow. He is also an excellent help side shot blocker who can block, change, and alter shots in the paint. He will give Coach K a player who can play either forward spot, as he can defend size or perimeter quickness. A great luxury when talking about an incoming freshman!
The National Champions lost four starters in Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow, and Tyus Jones to the NBA, along with Quinn Cook to graduation (and potentially the NBA). So adding an impact talent like Ingram was an imperative to keep the Blue Devils in the hunt next year.
He joins 6-10 Chase Jeter (No.12 senior), 6-11 Antonio Vrankovic, 6-4 Luke Kennard (No.31 senior), and recently re-classified 6-2 point Derryck Thornton (No.25 senior) in a class that currently holds the top spot nationally in recruiting.
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