If you follow recruiting, you know how to read the tea leaves. And the tea leaves in the recruitment of 5-star SF Asa Montgomery continue to point toward the Georgia native ending up at Duke.
The Blue Devils were trending in his recruitment heading into his official visit over the first weekend of October after Jon Scheyer conducted an in-home visit with Montgomery and his family that reportedly went over well. Montgomery was in attendance for Duke's Countdown to Craziness event at Cameron Indoor earlier this month and held the baby in the student section.
One of the biggest signs to watch for with Montgomery was whether or not he kept his visits to Arizona and Louisville, which were scheduled for after his trip to Durham. On Thursday, Joe Tipton reported that Montgomery had cancelled both visits:
5⭐️ Asa Montgomery has cancelled his upcoming official visits to Arizona and Louisville, sources told @Rivals. https://t.co/0arvGbO1Ss https://t.co/9HlfV51lhR pic.twitter.com/yZfFH3wGEy
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) October 15, 2026
Asa Montgomery cancelling trips to Louisville and Arizona is a great sign for Duke
Montgomery took visits to Auburn, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and UConn as well, but the fact that he cancelled the trips to Arizona and Louisville after his visit to Duke speaks volumes about where his recruitment stands.
The early signing period opens next month, and Montgomery is expected to sign during that window. Duke should be seen as the clear favorite right now, and it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he's actually already silently committed to the staff and is just waiting to make a public announcement.
Duke has two players committed in the 2027 recruiting class thus far: 5-star wing Kager Knueppel and Australian guard Luke Paul, who landed with the Blue Devils seemingly out of nowhere, even though Scheyer and his staff had been working on him for months.
In a perfect world, Duke would add two more prospects in this cycle and then call it good.
Montgomery is the lone target currently in the 2027 class. Duke would have some pivot options if he decided to go elsewhere, but it's clear from how things are moving that Scheyer and company feel pretty good about where they stand with the Hillgrove product.
The other target is 5-star Colton Hiller, who is currently the No. 1 player in the 2028 class. Hiller is considering a reclassification, something that Duke would like him to do so they can get him on campus for two years, just like they are doing with Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje.
If Scheyer can land both Montgomery and Hiller, then the 2027 cycle will have an argument for the best class he's ever signed, pound for pound. That's saying something considering the level of talent he has landed in high school classes since taking over as Duke's head coach.
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