Duke received a verbal commitment on Tuesday from Amile Jefferson, a 6 6-7 and 190 pound forward rated as a top-30 prospect in the prospect in the class of 2012.
Jefferson chose Duke over Kentucky, NC State, Duke, Ohio State and Villanova.
Jefferson noted the pull of playing for Mike Krzyzewski, the winningest coach in Division I men’s basketball history.
“Coach K brings an energy to our team that I want to bring back to him,” Jefferson said. “When he looks in my eyes, I want him to see the energy that I see in his eyes.”
Chris Paul was a late-bloomer who grew eight inches between his sophomore and junior years of high school.
“I loved the Tar Heels,” Paul said, smiling. “I grew up following North Carolina. It was 13 miles away from my home in Lewisville. Since I was a little kid, that was the only school I wanted to play for.”
Paul led his high school team to a 26-4 record during his senior season and shortly thereafter received the scholarship offer he had coveted.
“I had waited patiently for that day to come,” Paul said, recalling that he could initially only get UNC to encourage him to walk-on. “I wanted to know I was good enough to get one. As soon as it was offered, I called coach [Skip Prosser] and committed to Wake Forest.”
Troy Williams, a top-10 prospect in the class of 2013, plans to add at least two schools to his previous list of Kentucky and North Carolina, with Florida, Villanova, Georgetown and Louisville under consideration.
“We’ll probably let two more schools back in, just to see what else is out there,” Williams said. “It’s probably going to be between Florida, Villanova, Georgetown and Louisville. It will probably be Georgetown and Florida.”
Williams said his decision will depend on his comfort level with the coach.
“That’s the deciding factor, which head coach I like more,” Williams said. “I care about my relationship with the head coaches, not just the assistants. It all depends on the coaching staff.”
North Carolina has added former Tar Heels guard Hubert Davis as an assistant coach.
Davis fills the void left by former UNC assistant Jerod Haase, who took the top job at Alabama-Birmingham.
“I knew the day would eventually come when I would need to replace staff members as they moved on,” Roy Williams said in a statement. “For the last four or five years, Hubert has always been on my mind in case a spot did come open. I didn’t know if I could get him to come back, but I knew I wanted him to be the first option.”
Troy Williams, a top-20 recruit, has cut his list of possible college destinations to Kentucky and North Carolina.
“They’re both good schools,” Williams said. “They’re like the top two programs out there right now, so it’s going to be a hard decision. But it will come down to which coach I like the best.”
Williams is the nephew of amateur-circuit basketball legend Boo Williams, who has ties to both finalists.
“Kentucky plays a fast pace and coach (Calipari) is a good friend of my uncle’s,” Williams said.
Williams said he gets along with North Carolina coach Roy Williams “and some of the players came from my uncle’s team. They get up and down, too, and have a lot of dunks.”