After watching him the first two weekends of April on the adidas Gauntlet circuit, Duke is the latest to show interest in Class of 2017 point guard Makai Ashton Langford of Mass Rivals.
“[Assistant coach] Nate James called and they’re very interested. I’m sure they’ll get Coach K out to see him in July and they’ll build a relationship until then,” Vin Pastore of the Mass Rivals said Monday by phone.
“I don’t know what they’ll do. Coach K didn’t personally see him play yet, but he’s clearly good enough to play anywhere.”
Duke has also shown interest in fellow 2017 point guards Quade Green of Neumann-Goretti and the PSA Cardinals and Matt Coleman of Oak Hill Academy (VA) and Boo Williams.
The 6-foot-2 point guard from Cushing Academy holds offers from numerous high-majors, including UConn, Providence and Louisville. He is ranked the No. 9 point guard in the Class of 2017 by 247Sports.com.
“UConn and Providence have spent a lot of time and energy on him,” Pastore said. “Louisville has said that he’s going to be their No. 1 priority. Creighton has put some time in.
“Right now with the movement of Karl Hobbs to Rutgers, they’d love to see him be the guy there for him. And I’m sure in July, he’s going to have a lot of coaches coming to see him play.”
As for his upside, Pastore said: “I think he defends his position better than anybody in the country. His length and athleticism, his lateral movement, make him the top defender in the country.
“Offensively, he’s an explosive athlete with great shiftiness and change of speeds. The best part about him as an offensive player is that he not only gets to the rim but he finishes at the rim in all the ways that great guards do, left-handed, right-handed, up-and-unders, contorting his body and all while being able to maintain balance in the air.”
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