Duke basketball commit to team up with North Carolina pledge

A Duke basketball commit it teaming up with a North Carolina pledge. 

All eyes on Tobacco Road will be on New Jersey this upcoming high school basketball season as a Duke basketball recruit is joining forces with a future North Carolina Tar Heel.

Five-star forward Mackenzie Mgbako announced that he will be transferring from Gil St. Bernard’s (NJ) to Roselle Catholic (NJ) for his senior year of high school.

https://twitter.com/MackenzieMgbako/status/1554269533875146752

The move pairs the future Blue Devil with North Carolina five-star guard commit Simeon Wilcher before the both travel down to the Tar Heel State next summer.

Mgbako is ranked as the No. 2 player in the class of 2023 and top player at his position, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. while being the second ranked player in New Jersey.

Wilcher is the No. 3 player in 2023, No. 2 combo guard, and the No. 3 player in New Jersey as the guard is the only commit for the Tar Heels in the rising senior class and the program is the No. 17 ranked class in the country.

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The 6-foot-8 budding star headlines Duke’s top ranked recruiting class in 2023 alongside five-star power forward Sean Stewart, five-star point guard Caleb Foster, and five-star shooting guard Jared McCain.

Roselle Catholic was ranked as the No. 1 team in the state of New Jersey and No. 6 in the USA Toady Top-25 Poll last season after winning the last ever Tournament of Champions title over Camden High School and the top ranked player in the Class of 2023, DJ Wagner.

High school teammates no stranger to Duke basketball, North Carolina programs

High school teammates have been committed to Duke and North Carolina recently as the program landed AJ Griffin and RJ Davis, respectively, from Archbishop Stepinac High School (NY).

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Griffin, a Class of 2021 recruit, was the No. 16 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks while Davis, a Class of 2020 recruit, will be entering his junior season at North Carolina in the fall.

AJ Griffin was a five-star prospect and ranked No. 18 in his class while RJ Davis was a four-star recruit and the No. 50 player in his class.