Duke Basketball: Ranking the Blue Devils’ last 10 recruiting classes
By Dakota Cox
Duke Basketball has been arguably the best recruiting program as of late. How do the last 10 classes stack up against one another?
Mike Krzyzewski is one of the nation’s best recruiters. For years he’s carried dozens of young men through his program and onto the NBA. Year in and year out, he turns five-star prospects into lottery players. He usually has one of the best-recruiting classes in the nation, and he never has one outside of the top 25.
Times have changed in the way of recruiting. Coaches now can expect most of their primary players to stick around for only one year. Coach K still has grown with the times. In his two most recent national titles, he won one with a freshman-stacked team and one with a veteran presence.
When the times change as much as they have, you have to completely change your recruiting mindset. You need a combination of one-and-dones and players who will stay for the long haul. Duke needs the Marvin Bagleys and Jahlil Okafors to be successful, but they also need a couple of Grayson Allens and Quinn Cooks to truly be elite. All of these players come to Duke through recruiting.
When looking at these classes, it becomes human instinct to compare them with each other. Almost all have at least one talent that’s a superstar. Some have three or four. Certain classes have talent that are known for what they do in the NBA. Others only have players that leave an impact with the Blue Devils. When analyzing the past 10 recruiting classes, here’s where I rank them.