Ranking Duke basketball’s 14 recruiting prospects from 2023 class

4. Duke basketball recruiting target JJ Taylor

• Small forward
• 6-foot-8, 185 pounds
• No. 7 overall on the 247Sports 2023 Composite

As alluded to here earlier, Kenwood (Ill.) five-star small forward JJ Taylor last week became the first in his class to receive a Duke basketball offer.

Seeing that Mike Krzyzewski and Jon Scheyer both originally hail from northeast Illinois and have long since occupied the area as their recruiting playground, one could surmise that Taylor’s Chicago roots played a part in him garnering this distinction.

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Eric Bossi of 247Sports saw him take on fellow five-stars a few weeks ago and weighed in with his take on Taylor, whose long frame and versatile game have drawn comparisons to NBA great Kevin Durant:

"“A five-star who already ranks in the top 10 in 2023, Taylor really came on and was playing with great energy. That was important for me because the last time I saw, his energy wasn’t so great. To see him not coasting in an All-Star camp environment where coasting happens with a lot of guys was encouraging.”"

Bossi continued:

"“His bread and butter is slashing to the rim, and once he adds strength to play through contact, he’ll be able to be more consistent.”"

Needless to say, given the explosive weapon’s early Duke basketball offer, Taylor is likely to consistently hear from the Blue Devils for months to come.