Photo credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Potential Duke Basketball Prize Is 'The Ultimate Highlight Reel'
On Thursday night, in powering Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.) to an 82-65 victory over fellow prep powerhouse La Lumiere (Ind.) at the U.S. Steel La Porte Invitational in Indiana, prime 2024 Duke basketball recruiting target VJ Edgecombe flirted with a triple-double. And he did so in only a 32-minute high school game.
Edgecombe, who appears at No. 5 on the 247Sports 2024 Composite and recently trimmed his list of finalists to Kentucky, Baylor, and the now-perceived frontrunner Blue Devils, finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, three steals, and one block.
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It's not often at any level that a player records game-highs across the board. But that's precisely what Edgecombe did by churning out the above numbers, all while committing only one turnover across his 29 minutes on the floor.
Even more eye-popping than his stats is the manner in which he compiled them, especially in the points column.
Let's begin with the two-handed hammer Edgecombe pulled from his toolbox to put two defenders on the same poster, prompting SportsCenter NEXT to refer to the 6-foot-5, 180-pound thrill-a-minute guard as "the ultimate highlight reel" in the following posted clip:
One could argue that wasn't even Edgecombe's most impressive slam of the night. Check out all of these highlights from his performance, courtesy of League Ready:
Recent insider chatter suggests VJ Edgecombe may announce his college choice within the next two weeks.
His addition to Duke's five-deep class would at least put it in the conversation as one of the most deeply talented in program history. After all, it already ranks No. 1 in the country, and the lowest-ranked signee and lone four-star in the bunch, sniper wing Darren Harris, is the reigning Peach Jam MVP and routinely wins 3-point contests.
Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI.com for more Duke basketball recruiting news.