Jon Scheyer takes recruiting fight right to five-star guard's living room

2026 five-star guard Jordan Smith will have Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer in for an in-home visit on September 3rd, per Rivals. Smith, one of the top guards in the 2026 recruiting class, is considering Duke in his final six schools along with Arkansas, Georgetown, Kentucky, Indiana, and Syracuse.

The Paul VI Catholic (VA) product is the No. 3 overall player, No. 1 combo guard, and No. 1 player out of the state of Virginia according to the 247Sports 2026 Composite Rankings.

Smith has spoken highly of the Blue Devils in the past, and it certainly seems like Duke may have an edge in his recruitment. Coming from Paul VI, that's the same high school that current Duke basketball players Darren Harris and Pat Ngongba II attended. Former Blue Devils Jeremy Roach and Trevor Keels also went to PVI.

Harris even potentially hinted at Smith ultimately heading to Durham with a cryptic social media post a few months ago.

Five-star guard Jordan Smith reveals what he likes about the Duke program

In a previous interview with Rivals, here's what Smith had to say about Scheyer and Duke.

“They want me to come in here, help them win a national championship, help them reach my goals in any way possible.  They want to build my character as a young man, develop me to how I want to be. I love Jon Scheyer, he’s a great recruiter. I have two teammates that speak very highly of him, so I’m just excited to see what they do this year, how he plays them.”

Smith went on an official visit to Duke back in November 2024, but reports surfaced saying that he's interested in scheduling another official to Durham before he ultimately announces his commitment.

With the 2026 recruiting class widely considered to be a much weaker class relative to recruiting classes over the last ten years or so, Scheyer and his staff seem to be more picky in which guys they want to heavily recruit. Outside of No. 1 overall player Tyran Stokes, most of the talent in this class is seen as a project that needs years of development, as opposed to an elite player who can contribute on a championship-caliber team right away.

Four-star combo guard Austin Goosby recently went on his official visit to Duke, while reports surfaced that the Blue Devils are moving away from five-star guard Brandon McCoy.