
Kuminga, a projected Top 10 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft by ESPN.com, remains open in his recruitment, with Duke, Kentucky and Auburn among those on his list of 10 schools. He attended the Champions Classic last month at Madison Square Garden where both Duke and Kentucky played. Kentucky coach John Calipari and his assistants have also seen Kuminga several times this fall at the high school. The Celtics will play in the John Wall Invitational next week in North Carolina, and Duke and other schools may watch Kuminga there. A native of the Congo, Kuminga, 17, has the option of reclassifying to 2020, but has not yet indicated whether he plans to do so. Irving would probably love to see Kuminga choose Duke, but has advised him to keep his circle of advisors tight during the process. “Keep my circle small, listen to the right people and just keep doing my thing,” Kuminga said of Irving’s advice. “Keep playing my game, working out and everything’s going to be fine.” In the meantime, Kuminga is focused on winning games and titles with the Celtics, a program that has won six New Jersey Tournament of Champions crowns, five under former coach Kevin Boyle, now the coach of No.-1 ranked Montverde (FL) Academy, and one under current coach and school principal Chris Chavannes. That 2017 team that won the most recent title was co-coached by Mike Rice and was led by current Kentucky junior big man Nick Richards. Asked his goals this year, Kuminga said, “It’s pretty much get the championship, help this team out, help this school out to win the ring and pretty much improve my game.” Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter And Like ZAGS on FacebookHere’s my interview with @JonathanKuming6 of @tps_hsbb via @freshfocusports with some highlights. @KentuckyMBB @DukeMBB and @AuburnMBB among those involved for the No. 1 player in 2021 https://t.co/1RzGWWgxTp… https://t.co/8NEIsKxfdm
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) October 14, 2019