Potential Duke basketball target addresses recruiting rumors

Despite no offer, Duke basketball remains in one ACC-heavy recruiting race.

Within the past two weeks, four expert predictions have piled up inside the 247Sports Crystal Ball for Oak Hill (Va.) junior MJ Rice, all favoring NC State. Evidently, though, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound wing, who has been on the Duke basketball radar for more than a year and ranks No. 22 overall on the 247Sports 2022 Composite, doesn’t yet have a favorite in the battle.

Here’s what Rice wrote this week in his latest SI blog about the growing speculation in regards to a potential winner of his five-star services:

“OK, so with my recruitment, I want to clear up some rumors about me having a favorite school or leaning toward anyone. That’s just not true; I don’t know how this stuff starts, but I wanted to clear that up in my blog. I am 100 percent open to everyone.”

Even though Rice has recently hinted at his decision coming this calendar year, he suggested this time that time is no issue. However, he did list some programs, including Duke and NC State, that have been reaching out to him the most often as of late. The 17-year-old also explained his primary focus as his suitors continue their chase:

“I’m big on relationships, and with me being so far from knowing what I want to do, now is when I want to build the relationships to know what’s best for me. Right now, I’m hearing from Pitt, Duke, Louisville, NC State, Wake Forest, Indiana, and a few others pretty regularly. I’m just building relationships with the coaches right now. Again, I’m in no rush with anything.”

Connection to Duke basketball

MJ Rice frequented games inside Cameron Indoor Stadium during his first two years of high school while a student at nearby Durham Academy. There, the versatile playmaker was a teammate to Michael Savarino, who is nowadays a second-year Blue Devil walk-on and also happens to be the grandson of Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

All that said, Krzyzewski and his crew have still yet to extend an offer to Rice or anyone else in the 2022 class.

Meanwhile, MJ Rice still only holds about a half-dozen offers. Most are from ACC programs: NC State, Boston College, Louisville, Pitt, and Wake Forest.

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