Duke basketball: Mackenzie Mgbako schedules visits to programs

Former Duke basketball signee Mackenzie Mgbako is scheduling visits to other programs. 

The recruitment of former Duke basketball signee Mackenzie Mgbako had appeared slow since he requested his release from his National Letter of Intent but that’s now picking up.

Mgbako, according to multiple reports, has penciled in visits to St. John’s, Louisville, Indiana, and Kansas.

The 5-star forward is currently visiting Rick Pitino and the Red Storm this weekend, who also completed an in-home visit with the McDonald’s All-American shortly after his decommitment from Duke.

Dates for his other three visits have not been made public yet.

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The Roselle Catholic (NJ) standout originally committed to Duke over Memphis, Ohio State, and Kentucky last April at the Nike Hoop Summit and is currently listed as the No. 8 player in the Class of 2023, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

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It was nearly a year from Mackenzie Mgbako’s commitment date (April 8, 2022) that he decommitted (April 11, 2023) while he signed his National Letter of Intent to go to Duke on November 15.

Louisville or the NBA G-League were the early favorites to land the 6-foot-8 forward immediately following his decision, primarily due to his connection with former Duke assistant coach Nolan Smith, but it appears that it is St. John’s generating the most buzz as of late.

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Smith was originally one of Mgbako’s lead recruiters before he left the Blue Devils following Mike Krzyzewski’s final season as the program’s head coach to join Kenny Payne and the Cardinals.

Duke still holds the No. 2 recruiting class in the country headlined by 5-star prospects Sean Stewart, Caleb Foster, Jared McCain, and TJ Power while Jon Scheyer also learned that star freshmen Tyrese Proctor, Mark Mitchell, and Kyle Filipowski would be returning to the program for another season.