NCAA Basketball recruiting: Signs point to Duke for 2019 forward Matthew Hurt

When it comes to where Matthew Hurt may land, four schools were among the top options. Could it have already been cut in half?

There are just a few five-star recruits left uncommitted from the 2019 NCAA Basketball recruiting class. Matthew Hurt is one of them, a consensus top-10 prospect from Minnesota who just recently played in the McDonald’s All-American game. His recruitment has been one to watch, primarily since the best of the best have been involved with Hurt.

The top-tier forward has been connected to UNC, Duke, Kansas and Kentucky the most. And at times there have been different predicted leaders for his services, including the Jayhawks this past fall and even the Wildcats in the early part of winter.

But things have changed in a big way, with the Blue Devils now being viewed as a massive favorite to land Hurt. According to 247sports, Duke has received every crystal ball prediction since late February. And in the past couple of days, things have only intensified in the frontrunner’s favor.

First thing was the return of point guard Tre Jones for his sophomore season. That’s big because during an interview last month, Hurt’s father indicated that the point guard situation for each finalist played a part in their decision process. The Tar Heels lost Coby White to the NBA Draft and Kansas might not have either Devon Dotson or Quentin Grimes. It was good for Kentucky to have Ashton Hagans back for next year.

What wasn’t good for the Wildcats was that their coach John Calipari wasn’t allowed to visit Hurt this week, as the family announced that the recruitment was over and that a decision would be made later this week on his 2019 destination. Bill Self and the Jayhawks were also affected by this move.

This being a good sign for Duke is nothing more than speculative but the thought is would Coach K have been denied an in-home visit? It feels as if the family has decided to go to the Blue Devils and didn’t need any other information from teams he’s not planning on going to.

It makes great sense from an on-the-court perspective for Hurt to go to Duke. They need a power forward since Zion Williamson is off to the NBA. And among the other Blue Devil commits such as Vernon Carey (center), Wendell Moore (wing) and Boogie Ellis (guard), there isn’t another forward currently set on coming. Hurt could come in and get 30 mpg out the gate for what would be a preseason top-5 team next season.

Expect a decision this weekend, with Duke as the big favorite to land the top-10 recruit. But anyone who is aware of college basketball recruiting, anything can happen in the final days. But if you’re a Blue Devil fan, you can’t ask for a better week of news regarding Hurt.