Duke Basketball Staff Reaches Out to Another Top-Three Prep

A premier 2025 forward not named Boozer or Flagg now has Duke basketball's attention.

More guards than forwards have reported calls from the Duke basketball recruiters ever since the first direct-contact period of the 2025 cycle began on Thursday. But that doesn't mean the Blue Devils aren't eyeing several frontcourt weapons for what figures to be a relatively large haul by Jon Scheyer and his staff.

Perry (Ariz.) power forward Koa Peat, who ranks No. 3 overall on the 247Sports 2025 Composite, is one such potential target to hear from the Duke coaches this week. He listed to On3's Joe Tipton the more than a dozen high-major schools that have reached out, including fellow bluebloods Kentucky and UNC.

Before Thursday, while there had been times when the Duke contingent attended games that Peat played in, the 6-foot-8, 215-pound five-star had not noted significant interest coming out of Durham. One possible explanation is that Scheyer and his crew have had offers out to the top two 2025 recruits, both forwards, for over a year.

Yes, there's no doubt that Christopher Columbus (Fla.) five-star Cameron Boozer (No. 1 composite ranking) and Montverde (Fla.) five-star Cooper Flagg (No. 2) are at the top of the Blue Devil wishlist.

RELATED: List of Every Recruit Holding a Duke Offer

However, there's always the chance that Boozer or Flagg, perhaps a reclass candidate, will choose to go elsewhere. Granted, it doesn't hurt that Boozer's dad is 2001 Blue Devil national champ Carlos Boozer and that Flagg has admitted to growing up a fan of the program.

Even so, it seems at this relatively early juncture on the 2025 trail that Scheyer is wisely remaining open to other top-shelf forward options, such as Koa Peat, whose sturdy frame and versatility on offense seem to be in the mold of former Duke basketball one-and-done Jabari Parker.

Koa Peat (No. 3 ESPN 25) can do it all. 🍿@kpeat10 I @Compton_Magic pic.twitter.com/2izigbMz3L

— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) April 15, 2023

And it's worth pointing out that Koa Peat and Cameron Boozer shined playing alongside one another for the USA U16 National Team in their dominant gold-medal performance last weekend at the FIBA U16 Americas Championship in Mexico.

So there's always that to think about.

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