Blue Devil Country

Insider Says Duke Basketball 'May Be Fading' for Five-Star Guard

Duke basketball recruiters looked like a frontrunner for Brayden Burries early in their pursuit, but that's no longer the case.

Matt Giles

Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer
Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer / Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
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Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer watched Roosevelt High School (Calif.) rising senior Brayden Burries shine at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in early June.

Back in January, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard listed the Blue Devils among his 10 most active suitors. And many viewed the staff in Durham as one of the top few contenders in his recruitment at the time, a few months removed from his visit in the fall.

But judging by what national recruiting insider Eric Bossi said in assessing the battle during his appearance on The 247Sports College Basketball Show on Tuesday, it now looks as though Burries, a five-star who ranks No. 15 overall on the 247Sports 2025 Composite and has held a Duke basketball offer since last July, is beginning to trend elsewhere.

"I think he's pretty committed to staying in 2025 at this point, barring a surprise," Bossi noted about the 18-year-old Burries, at one time a prime candidate to reclassify to 2024 and enter the college ranks this year. "[Burries] is a little bit older. He'll turn 19 at the end of September, so that definitely puts him on the older side. But that's all right, this is a skilled, mature, confident guard — can play on the ball, off the ball.

"His recruitment's been pretty interesting. I think this time a year ago, we were really thinking Duke [and] Arizona were really the teams that were way up there; they're certainly still involved a little bit but may be fading some. Kansas is in there a little bit as well.

"But the two that I would watch as of today — I'm gonna give you two to watch and then a sleeper — would be UCLA, a local school, and then Houston. Houston has really gotten in there deep...Now, recently, Tennessee has jumped in...They've got some family ties with Burries."

Brayden Burries, seemingly in no rush yet to wrap things up via a decision, is one of 12 in the 2025 class to end up on the Duke basketball wishlist.

It's worth noting that one of the most recent recipients of an offer from Scheyer is a stock-riser at Burries' position in Sidwell Friends School (Washington, D.C.) four-star Acaden Lewis.

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Matt Giles

MATT GILES

Matt Giles is the editor and publisher of FanNation's Blue Devil Country and All Tar Heels, covering the Duke Blue Devils and UNC Tar Heels on SI.com.

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