Duke Basketball Might Be Looking to Shake up Major Recruiting Battle

Duke basketball and another blueblood have eyes on a smooth shooting guard.

It's clear the Duke basketball staff has long been looking for a five-star guard on the 2024 recruiting trail but has yet to land one. The Blue Devils' focus was squarely on Don Bosco Prep (N.J.) five-star combo guard Dylan Harper, No. 2 overall on the 247Sports 2024 Composite, but he looks more and more like a strong Rutgers lean.

With that in mind, it's no surprise second-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer and his crew now appear to be looking elsewhere.

According to a recent report from recruiting insider Adam Zagoria, the Blue Devils and fellow recruiting juggernaut Kentucky "are now showing interest" in Archbishop Wood High School (Pa.) five-star Jalil Bethea, a 6-foot-4, 170-pound high-scoring shooting guard sitting at No. 13 in the class ranking.

One issue. A month ago, Bethea announced five finalists, all at or near the heavyweight variety, in Alabama, Kansas, Miami, Syracuse, and Villanova.

And he's scheduled a handful of official visits between the end of August and late October, suggesting a decision could come before the early signing period in November.

Of course, Duke and Kentucky have proven undeterred by such factors before, occasionally appearing out of nowhere with an offer just as a big-time recruiting race reaches its homestretch.

Jalil Bethea (No. 9 ESPN 💯) was handing out buckets yesterday for Rod Wave Elite 👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/qw4PvzRmdY

— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) August 21, 2023

Thus far, there's been no report of an offer to Bethea from either of those bluebloods. But the above highlights from this past weekend and the following recent scouting report, courtesy of On3, say he's deserving of more attention from Scheyer & Co.:

"It is the scoring with Jalil Bethea that you walk away talking about. He scores it in an efficient manner at each level of the floor. He has a good frame, nice length, positional size, and a projectable frame. Bethea is a good athlete and has some quick-twitch and straight-line burst when he is heading toward the rim...He plays with a lot of confidence and has a smooth demeanor about him."

Outside of Harper and Paul VI Catholic (Va.) four-star center Patrick Ngongba II, Duke basketball's list of 2024 targets and commits (two to date) consists entirely of small forwards.

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Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI.com for more Duke basketball recruiting news.