Duke basketball is closely eyeing a prime UNC basketball recruiting target.
The UNC basketball coaches have been in contact with Sylvan Hills (Ark.) shooting guard Nick Smith Jr. for about a year now and extended an offer to the four-star junior back in December. Meanwhile, although their rival Duke basketball counterparts still have all of zero offers out to 2022 recruits, one could be in the works for the 6-foot-4, 185-pound jack of all backcourt trades.
Speaking this week with Stock Risers recruiting insider Jake Weingarten, Smith gave his thoughts on the heightened attention coming from the Blue Devils as of late:
“Yeah, everybody knows about Duke. It’s just self-explanatory.”
Smith, who ranks No. 25 overall on the 247Sports 2022 Composite, explained the interest anyway:
“I talked with last week, and they said they really been paying attention to my game and they really like my game, and they’re just showing a lot of interest right now. I don’t have an offer from them, but I’m just trying to build a relationship with them and just find the right fit.”
According to the long-limbed, assertive perimeter playmaker, other potential right fits include UNC, of course, along with the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Georgetown, Kansas, and Kentucky.
No rush from the Duke basketball recruiting prospect
At this point, Nick Smith Jr. has no list of favorites. And as he suggested to Weingarten, his decision is probably more than six months away:
“I don’t really have a timeline. I really wanted to commit in November, but I think that is gonna change due to everybody getting involved right now and then the visits I gotta take.”
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As for Smith’s planned official visits thus far, most of his June weekends are already spoken for with scheduled trips to Auburn, Georgetown, and Kansas. However, he told Weingarten that his family intends to find room on the calendar for more visits in the future.
In addition to the chats with Nick Smith Jr., the Duke basketball staff has recently been revving up its efforts with the 2022 class as a whole. One clear sign of that is the two official visitors on tap for the last weekend in June: Bishop Miege (Kan.) five-star small forward Mark Mitchell plus Wilbraham & Monson (Mass.) four-star power forward Kyle Filipowski.