Four-star recruit Braydon Hawthorne, the #106 overall player and #25 small forward per the 247Sports Class of 2025 Composite Rankings, was set to stay home and play for the West Virginia Mountaineers. However, after former Mountaineers head coach Darian DeVries left to take over as head coach at Indiana this offseason, Hawthorne requested a release from his NLI and has since reopened his recruitment.
Although the four-star is keeping the option of staying with West Virginia open, several high-caliber programs have expressed interest in Hawthorne, including Duke.
According to 247Sports insider Travis Branham, Duke paid a visit to Hawthorne yesterday and has shown interest in potentially adding the wing to the Blue Devils' already loaded 2025 recruiting class.
Schools such as Kentucky, Michigan, and Virginia Tech have also shown intrigue with Hawthorne's availability.
Jon Scheyer reeled in the #3 overall 2025 recruiting class, headlined by five-star recruits Cameron Boozer and Nik Khamenia, along with four-star point guard Cayden Boozer, Carlos's twin brother.
The Blue Devils sat with the top-ranked class for most of the 2025 recruiting cycle, but dropped after five-star Shelton Henderson de-committed from the program, later joining Scheyer's former assistant and newly appointed Miami head coach, Jai Lucas.
Hawthorne could potentially fill a massive void next season for Duke at the wing position. Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and Tyrese Proctor have all declared for the 2025 NBA Draft, while Darren Harris, Caleb Foster, Maliq Brown, Patrick Ngongba II, and Isaiah Evans have announced their returns to Durham next season. Depth at the three spot is certainly a weakness for the 2025-26 Blue Devils as we sit here today, and the Huntington, West Virginia native could be a nice add.
Hawthorne recently took a visit to Kentucky, but there's no timetable for a potential commitment as of now.
Duke was one of the few programs not to lose a single player to the transfer portal this offseason, but the program also has yet to make an addition through the portal. This could change soon as one of the top remaining transfers, Cedric Coward, has Duke in his final two schools, along with Alabama. However, Coward's priority is the 2025 NBA Draft.