Top 2026 guards visit Duke over past weekend

Despite the 2024-25 regular season getting ready to kick off on Monday night, Duke basketball isn't holding back in its recruiting trail for the class of 2026.

This past weekend the program hosted Brandon McCoy and Jordan Smith Jr., two of the top guards in the class.

McCoy is the #1 point guard and #2 player overall in the 247sports class of 2026 rankings and has held an offer from Duke since July. The 6' 4" 170-pound point guard holds offers from UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, and Alabama. He plays his high school basketball at St. John Bosco (CA).

McCoy spoke to Steve Clark after the Nike EYBL Peach Jam this past summer, a recruiting analyst for TheDevilsDen.com, to discuss Duke's approach with his recruitment.

"They have reached out a lot more, and I saw them at my game today. I've talked with Coach (Jon) Scheyer and he also texts me a lot as well as Coach (Jai) Lucas. They are really cool guys, and I definitely would like to come and take a visit to Duke."

Smith Jr. is the #8 overall player and #3 shooting guard at 247sports class of 2026 recruiting rankings. He plays his high school basketball at Paul VI Catholic (VA), where his former teammates and current Duke basketball freshmen Darren Harris and Pat Ngongba played in high school.

He's also held an offer from Duke since late July and has garnered offers from the likes of Louisville, Arizona State, Arkansas, and Florida State.

Smith recently talked about his recruiting experience with Duke with 247sports's Travis Branham.

"It's been real good. They have been checking in, not as much, but a lot though. It's a rich program, rich culture, I just like the program. It's a PVI (Pope John VI) pipeline as people would say. I just like it."

Duke has now offered three players in the class of 2026 with #6 overall recruit Miikka Muurinen being the third.