Zach Braziller

Zach Braziller

Sports

Duke scores 2 top recruits; Hall shores up strong class

The package deal isn’t a myth.

We learned that Friday afternoon shortly after 4 p.m., when Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor, the highly-ranked big man/point guard duo, committed together to Duke.

Prospects often talk about packaging together, trying to win a national title by picking the same college, but it rarely works out, particularly with top prospects such as these. However, it came to fruition for Jones, a Minnesotan point guard, and the Chicago-bred big man Okafor, who talked about playing together the last few years.

“We just want the opportunity to win, and us together gives us the best chance to win,” Okafor, a senior at Whitney Young, said on ESPNU. “That was the main thing of wanting to go to the same university. He’s my best friend, like a brother to me. Take basketball out of the equation, he’s still someone I would want to go to college with.”

Kansas, which landed a commitment from Chicago big man Cliff Alexander later on, and Baylor rounded out the top three classes.

Jones and Okafor are the first true package deal of elite prospects since Ohio high school teammates Greg Oden and Mike Conley went to Ohio State together in 2006, according to Scout.com national recruiting analyst Evan Daniels.

Duke’s class immediately shot up to the top of all the national recruiting websites once the commitment was announced. The commitments could give Duke its first No. 1 recruiting class in several years, depending on where the other top prospects land.

“You’re talking about the best post player in high school basketball and the best pass-first point guard in high school basketball,” Daniels said. “These are just elite-level prospects.”


Seton Hall wrapped up its highly-ranked recruiting class on Friday when Lincoln shooting guard Isaiah Whitehead and Bishop Loughlin shooting guard Khadeen Carrington signed with the Big East school. Earlier in the week, Newark East Side (N.J.) wing Ismael Sanogo and Huntington Prep (West Va.) forward Angel Delgado inked letters of intent.

Whitehead, a likely McDonald’s All-American, was considered a Syracuse lean until the Orange took a commitment from point guard Kaleb Joseph. Following a breakout summer on the AAU circuit, a series of high-profile programs got in the mix, such as Indiana, Pittsburgh, UCLA and Arizona, but Seton Hall offered him the opportunity to stay relatively close to home and create his own legacy.

The 6-foot-5 Whitehead’s commitment turned Seton Hall’s solid recruiting class into a great one, its best since the 2000 group that was headed by Eddie Griffin and Andre Barrett. It is a consensus top-10 class, ranked seventh by Scout.com.

“This class has an opportunity to elevate Seton Hall basketball to new heights and leave their mark on this program,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said.


St. John’s isn’t expected to announce any new recruits before next Wednesday, the end of the early signing period. The Red Storm are heavily involved with a number of elite 2015 prospects, namely Roselle Catholic (N.J.) point guard Isaiah Briscoe and Our Savior New American (L.I.) forward Cheick Diallo.


Mike Williams, Carrington’s teammate at Bishop Loughlin, is expected to sign on Monday with Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights have received letters of intent from JUCO guard Bishop Daniels and forward Dwayne Foreman, a Spring Valley native attending Massanutten Military Academy in Virginia.


WHEELS Academy forward Tyshawn Myles signed with Drexel on Thursday.