No question now: Duke basketball has the nation’s No. 1 recruiter

Duke basketball’s Jon Scheyer sits second to no one as a recruiting genius.

With his commitment in August, Paolo Banchero put the finishing touch on two Duke basketball arguments.

One, the five-star power forward erased any possible lingering concern that recruiting efforts in Durham had cooled even a smidge in light of former assistant Jeff Capel becoming head coach at Pitt two years ago. Nope. Not one degree.

Two, by picking Duke out of the blue over perceived favorites Kentucky and Tennessee, the No. 3 prospect on the 247Sports 2021 Composite confirmed associate head coach Jon Scheyer as the best in the biz. Well, at least that’s where the 33-year-old ranks in regards to assistants (you know, the guys who lead recruitments by putting in the long hours scouting and courting targets).

By earning credit as well for snagging the program’s other pledge in five-star small forward AJ Griffin (No. 6), it’s no shock Scheyer is No. 1 on the 247Sports 2021 Recruiter Rankings, especially considering the only top 10 commits are Blue Devils. Plus, he finished No. 1 for 2020 and No. 5 for 2019, his first year as chief Duke basketball recruiter (outside of Mike Krzyzewski, of course).

All told, Scheyer has spearheaded the pursuits of the following future, current, and former Blue Devils since becoming a full-time assistant in 2014:

• 2021: Paolo Banchero (No. 3), AJ Griffin (No. 6)
• 2020: Jalen Johnson (No. 13), Jeremy Roach (No. 23), DJ Steward (No. 26), Mark Williams (No. 28)
• 2019: Vernon Carey Jr. (No. 6), Matthew Hurt (No. 12)
• 2018: Cam Reddish (No. 2), Zion Williamson (No. 5), Joey Baker (No. 33)
• 2017: Alex O’Connell (No. 68)
• 2016: Jayson Tatum (No. 4), Frank Jackson (No. 13)
• 2015: Derryck Thornton (No. 14), Luke Kennard (No. 21)

That’s 14 five-stars and two four-stars, all inside the top 70 in their respective classes, and five inside the top 10. That’s an average of two five-stars a year. That’s just a ton of stars — one NBA All-Star in Tatum plus several potential All-Stars — and only a couple of relative duds. That’s evidence of a man who has both a keen eye for top talents and the right personality to reel ’em in.

Following Banchero’s announcement, many players on that list took to social media to spread a 100 percent true ad promoting Scheyer as the best recruiter in the country. A no-brainer for Johnson:

https://twitter.com/Jalen_J23/status/1296595291903164416?s=20

The same goes for Steward and others:

https://twitter.com/swipasnipa/status/1296610392513404928?s=20

What makes the Duke basketball treasure such a recruiting force

Scheyer is smart enough to be a hoops guru yet perhaps not quite brainy and dull enough for a 9-5 job as a rocket scientist or something. He’s just professional and smooth enough to impress parents but not so slick and slimy as to scare some away. He’s old enough to earn respect and young enough for folks to still recognize his face as a 2010 Duke basketball national champ.

ALSO READ: Ranking all 40 Duke teams under Coach K

On that note, he’s not so old and stodgy as to turn down interviews from some teenage dudes on a YouTube channel, like the recent one below that he did with The Engine:

Yup, as a whole, at least for the time being, Coach K’s righthand man is the total package when it comes to landing top-shelf prizes. He finds them. He lays the foundation. He works to ensure it’s just a matter of dotting an “i” or crossing a “t” in terms of his boss closing the deal.

Finally, now that former Kentucky recruiting heavyweight Kenny Payne is with the New York Knicks, there’s simply no other assistant in the country with a recent track record that even comes close to rivaling that of Scheyer.

And if the Chicagoland native’s chase for five-star small forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. ultimately pays off — a chase Scheyer began when the phenom was in middle school — well, let’s just say his stock as a recruiter will be through the roof. Besides, he could then check off the one notable feat he has yet to pull off: hauling in a No. 1 recruit.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more Duke basketball recruiting news and views.