Duke basketball: Jon Scheyer picks UNC target for first recruiting offer
By Matt Giles
Duke basketball recruiting lives on with the beginning of a new offer list.
Dean Smith didn’t do it. Neither did Roy Williams. No, in this regard, Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski is taking a more honest route to his retirement than his former UNC nemeses. Rather than suddenly announce his departure after the upcoming season, which would have forced him to essentially mislead 2022 recruits, the 74-year-old devised a perfect plan.
Coach K disclosed this week his exit strategy a year in advance.
Associate head coach Jon Scheyer is the successor-in-waiting with the present-day duty of compiling his first recruiting haul as a head man. And now, after months of speculation here at Ball Durham as to what in the world was taking the Blue Devils so long in handing out their first 2022 offer, the 33-year-old hoops savant has pinpointed his first official target in his new role.
A lively choice by Duke basketball treasure Jon Scheyer
According to a tweet from Jake Weingarten of Stock Risers on Friday, this symbolic Duke basketball offer recipient is Westtown (Pa.) center Dereck Lively, a 7-foot-1, 220-pound four-star who ranks No. 35 overall on the 247Sports 2022 Composite.
Weingarten also noted that Lively spoke via Zoom to Scheyer and the staff on Friday.
As his last name implies, Lively is a lively big man who is adept at utilizing his relatively light feet and quick hops for his size to find easy buckets around the rim. His prowess on defense and then in transition is especially promising, suggesting that Scheyer is eyeing a fast-tempo playing style.
Lively, who holds nearly two dozen offers, was already on tap for an official visit to Durham the last weekend of June. He will travel to Kentucky and UNC this month as well.
His offer from the Tar Heels came in early February when Roy Williams was still running the show.
Three others from the class have Duke trips on their calendars. Joining Lively at the end of June are Sunrise Christian (Kan.) five-star small forward Mark Mitchell and Wilbraham & Monson (Mass.) four-star power forward Kyle Filipowski. Meanwhile, Montverde (Fla.) five-star small forward Dariq Whitehead is set to be on campus next weekend.
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With that in mind, it’s safe to assume more handpicked offers from Jon Scheyer — of the honest variety — should pop up in the coming days and weeks.