Top Duke basketball target heaps praise on Jon Scheyer

The Duke basketball five-star magnet is again sitting pretty in a big race.

Duke basketball recruiting target Mackenzie Mgbako hasn’t named finalists and doesn’t plan to make up his mind on a college destination before next fall. However, the five-star junior out of Gill St. Bernard’s School (N.J.) has taken a handful of visits and hinted at early frontrunners this week during a chat with On3 national recruiting insider Joe Tipton.

At No. 3 overall on the 247Sports 2023 Composite, Mgbako is the highest-ranked undecided recruit holding an offer from the Duke Blue Devils at the moment. The 6-foot-8, 200-pound do-it-all small forward said the following to Tipton about his seemingly budding relationship with the head coach-in-waiting in Durham:

“[Jon Scheyer] is a likable coach. Like when you meet him and get recruited by him, you see it firsthand. He is a coach you want to be recruited by. He has that kind of feeling to him that makes you want to go to his team.”

Now, keep in mind Mgbako also spoke highly of Kentucky, Memphis, and Ohio State coaches.

A makeshift Duke basketball recruiter in Mackenzie Mgbako sweepstakes

In early September, Mackenzie Mgbako took an official visit to Duke alongside Oak Hill (Va.) junior Caleb Foster, a five-star point guard who announced his commitment to the Blue Devils shortly after that trip. According to Joe Tipton, Foster has frequently been in Mgbako’s ear ever since about teaming up together at the next level.

And here’s what Mgbako noted about that relatively new friendship:

“I met Caleb over at the Duke visit. Coach Scheyer told me a little bit about who he’d be recruiting and said that would be the starting point guard.”

ALSO READ: Possible sign of a Caleb Foster reclass to 2022

The 247Sports Crystal Ball for Mackenzie Mgbako contains four predictions, all of which point to the electric playmaker eventually donning Duke basketball gear.

In addition to a top-ranked 2022 haul, Jon Scheyer and his gang sit atop the 247Sports 2023 Team Rankings. Their list of 2023 prizes consists of Foster, who ranks No. 9 among juniors, and Windermere (Fla.) four-star power forward Sean Stewart, who ranks No. 33.