Duke basketball recruiters give special attention to 7-foot sensation

The Duke basketball staff remains in hot pursuit of a premier 2022 big man.

On Saturday afternoon, newly appointed Duke basketball chief-in-waiting Jon Scheyer and associate head coach Chris Carrawell were on hand at the Hoop Group Summer Jam Fest in Pennsylvania.

Why?

Well, judging by the following tweet from Rich Flanagan of Philadelphia Sports Digest, Team Final (Pa.) center Dereck Lively served as the primary reason for the Blue Devils being in attendance. And it looks as if they were in an impossible-to-miss position on the front row near midcourt.

A rival-packed Duke basketball recruiting battle

Evidently, Jon Scheyer and Chris Carrawell are hoping this front-row attention, which comes less than two weeks after the target’s official visit to Durham, will help give Duke a leg up on the six other finalists Dereck Lively revealed in June: Florida State, Kentucky, Michigan, Penn State, Southern Cal, and UNC.

Lively is a 7-foot-1, 220-pound five-star who has jumped more than 30 spots across the past few months to No. 7 overall on the 247Sports 2022 Composite. He’s done so by standing out from the competition in AAU action as of late with his top-shelf length, light feet, quick bounce, and burgeoning skillset.

Now, Lively is perhaps the best five-man in the class not named Jalen Duren.

At this point, the 247Sports Crystal Ball for Lively lacks predictions. Meanwhile, he plans to take more official visits in the fall before ultimately deciding on a school.

The other five 2022 prospects presently holding Duke offers are Montverde (Fla.) five-star small forward Dariq Whitehead, Sunrise Christian (Kan.) five-star small forward Mark Mitchell, Coppell (Texas) four-star combo guard Anthony Black, Wilbraham & Monson (Mass.) four-star power forward Kyle Filipowski, and La Lumiere (Ind.) four-star point guard JJ Starling.

Scheyer and his crew have yet to reel in their first 2022 prize.