Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski will be one of three head honchos from blue-blood programs making in-home visits with five-star power forward Matthew Hurt all on the same day.
What Duke basketball prospect Matthew Hurt lacks in speed, he makes up for with his smooth moves.
The Minnesota native and class of 2019 recruit has a unique way of slithering through defenders with an array of hops and body contortions all while pretending he’s the head foreman of a bucket factory.
The easiest way to describe the 6-foot-9, 215-pound forward to a Duke basketball fan is by explaining how his game falls somewhere in between that of Danny Ferry (based on his skilled passing and confidence with the ball) and Ryan Kelly (based on his body type and the high-release style of his highly successful shooting stroke).
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While Hurt — ranked sixth overall by 247Sports’ composite rankings — has not publicly announced an exact list of schools that he is still considering, he and his family have invited six head coaches to their home, according to Marcus Fuller of the Star Tribune.
Three of those coaches — Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Kansas’s Bill Self, and Kentucky’s John Calipari — will start off the busy week at the Hurt household when they arrive in Rochester, Minn., on Sunday.
On Monday, the Hurts will welcome Minnesota’s Richard Pitino, who currently coaches Hurt’s older brother, Michael Hurt, a junior forward for the Gophers (the brothers could play one season together if Matthew also chooses to stay in-state).
Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill head coach Roy Williams will both make a visit later in the week.
It is unclear whether Hurt will first put out an official list or just go ahead and make a commitment; either way, expect some form of news soon after this week’s visits from the coaches. He is likely to announce his final decision anytime between next week and when his final high school season begins in November.
According to 247Sports’ Crystal Ball — whose reputation took a hit in the eyes of the Blue Devils on Tuesday after Bryan Antoine proved all its experts wrong by picking Villanova — there is an 83 percent chance that Hurt will eventually commit to Kansas.
Eight percent of the Crystal Ball’s “experts” are picking Minnesota, and another eight percent are still undecided. There is still one percent missing — according to the calculator here at Ball Durham — so the “experts” at this site are assuming that must belong to the Dukies.
As of right now, the Duke basketball coaches are still anxiously awaiting the first player from the 2019 recruiting class to announce a commitment to the Blue Devils.
Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more Duke basketball recruiting updates, analysis, opinions, and projections.