Duke Basketball: Gary Trent Jr. to help replace Allen, Tatum in 2017-18?
A top-10 recruit in 2017, Gary Trent Jr., chose Duke basketball over other high major programs.
Coming into yesterday, Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils had yet to make a splash in the class of 2017. They had previously reeled in four-star ESPN top 100 shooting guard Alex O’Connell, but the Blue Devils are known for their ability to add the top players in the country.
Coach K did exactly that on Thursday as he received a commitment from the top shooting guard in the class of 2017, five-star talent Gary Trent Jr.
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— GARY TRENT JR ????⁶ (@THAT_KID_GARY) November 11, 2016
Trent, a 6’5″, 200 pound two-guard, is ranked 8th in ESPN’s top 100 for the class of 2017 and is one of the top high school scorers in the nation. The Minnesota native is from the same town as former Duke point guard Tyus Jones, but now plays his high school basketball in California at Prolific Prep.
His dad, Gary Trent Sr., spent 12 seasons in the NBA after being selected with the 11th overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. While Trent has NBA talent similar to his father, his game is the complete opposite.
The older Trent was a 6’8″ bruiser, while younger version is a shooting guard with the ability to score on all three levels. The newest member of the Duke family has a superb perimeter stroke, is capable of creating in the mid-range and is excellent when attacking in straight line drive situations.
Trent has the athleticism and skill to develop into one of the top freshman in the ACC next season. With junior Grayson Allen and freshman small forward Jayson Tatum expected to declare for the NBA Draft, the Blue Devils needed a shot creator and scorer to make up for the loss of the potential National Player of the Year and the “Master of the Mid-Range.”
The incoming freshman obviously won’t be able to replace Allen and Tatum by himself, however, he is the top candidate (at least at this point in time) to play significant minutes with the ball in his hands.
We don’t know how the rest of Duke’s 2017 recruiting class will turn out. But what we do know is that they are certainly not finished.
Trent and five-star big man Wendell Carter (3rd in ESPN’s top 100) have consistently talked about playing on the same team in college. Carter is currently considering Duke, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Harvard, but the Blue Devils have obviously become the favorite moving forward.
Duke is also in the mix for five-star versatile forward Kevin Knox, who is ranked 7th in ESPN’s top 100.
Trent will not bring as much hype as Tatum or Harry Giles are bringing to Durham this year. However, he could form of the more deadly combos in college basketball (Trent and Carter) and could be the team’s leading scorer in 2017-18.
Duke has the best team in the country this year and are the heavy favorites to win the 2017 National Championship. It looks like they are on track to once again be one of the top dogs next season.
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