UNC immediately offers first Duke basketball recruit in Class of 2026

One of the first prospects that the Duke basketball team targeted in the Class of 2026 was Jordan Smith Jr. and the connections between the 5-star recruit and blue blood program were not hard to find.

He stars at Paul VI High School (Va.), a school that has seen the Blue Devils land plenty of its high profile players such as Jeremy Roach, Trevor Keels, Darren Harris, and Patrick Ngongba in recent years.

Smith Jr. has rocketed up the recruiting rankings over the last two years and his size might be his best quality after being listed at 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds. He was named to the 2024 USA U17 Men's National Team, which won the World Cup this summer, and averaged 5.9 points and 2.1 rebounds during the event.

After returning back to the United States, Jordan Smith Jr. took the floor at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam where the Duke basketball coaching staff continued to evaluate him.

Smith Jr. is ranked as the No. 8 player in the 247Sports Composite rankings, No. 2 shooting guard in the class, and top player from the state of Virginia.

As Peach Jam concluded, Smith posted on social media that he officially landed an offer from the Blue Devils. It was the first scholarship offer that Jon Scheyer handed out in the Class of 2026.

Duke is still looking for its first commitment from a 2025 or 2026 player.

However, shortly after Scheyer's offer became official, Hubert Davis and North Carolina extended an offer to Jordan Smith Jr. Many expected the Tar Heels to offer Smith Jr. as the two rival programs had been monitoring his recruitment closely.

Louisville, Providence, Miami, Syracuse, Houston, and Michigan are some of the programs that are recruiting Smith the hardest right now.

No timeline has been set, but it seems likely that Jordan Smith Jr. will eventually take a visit to Durham and get an up-close look at the Duke basketball program.