Coach K has been recruiting at an elevated level over the course of these last few years, and continues to do so as we enter the early signing period. On Thursday the #8 overall player, Gary Trent Jr, became the second player to commit to Duke for the class of 2017. Trent joins sharpshooter, and Blue Devil legacy, Alex O’Connell in the backcourt for the Blue Devils. After narrowing his list to a final five of Kentucky, Duke, Arizona, Michigan State, and UCLA, Trent took official visits to only UCLA and Duke before deciding Durham was the place for him.

Gary is one of the best scorers in the nation and is capable of putting the ball in the hoop from anywhere on the court. One of Trent’s best traits on offense is his killer instinct and wants the ball in his hands when the game is on the line. He has an explosive first step and can make his defender pay for even the slightest mistake by blowing by them and finishing around the rim. Trent is a high-level shooter from deep and can become nearly unstoppable if he is on from that range. Off the dribble, Trent’s shot is very hard to defend thanks to his lightning quick release. He will add rebounding and toughness from the perimeter for the Blue Devils and is capable of grabbing a rebound and going coast to coast in seconds.

The biggest knock on Trent is the fact that he can be a bit of a black hole from time to time. More often than not, Trent will look to force the action himself instead of passing it to a teammate who may have an easier look at the basket. He can get himself in trouble when attacking the rim by leaving his feet without a plan which leads to turnovers too often. If Trent is capable of improving his playmaking and vision he will become the best all-around offensive player in the class of 2017.

The Blue Devils are nowhere near done with their 2017 class and are still involved with many other highly rated recruits. This includes a pair of point guards Quade Green (#22) and Matt Coleman (#27). Green is considered a Syracuse lean with the Orange’s biggest competition being Kentucky. Texas was considered the leader for Coleman for a long time before the Blue Devils offered the talented guard out of Virginia. However, Duke is making a strong push to reel Coleman in.

In the frontcourt Duke has offers out to three of the top-ten recruits in the nation in Wendell Carter (#3), Mohamed Bamba (#4) and Kevin Knox (#7). Carter is close friends with Trent and has publicly said he wants to play with him in college which makes Duke the heavy favorite for Carter going forward. Mo Bamba on the other hand, has played his recruitment extremely close to his chest and has only taken a couple of official visits to Michigan and Texas. He has also unofficially visited Harvard, Syracuse, Kentucky, and UConn since the beginning of August. Knox named a final five of Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, and Florida State and has only officially visited Duke as of now. He does however have officials scheduled for North Carolina, Kentucky, and Florida State after the turn of the year, so he will not be signing until the late signing period.