Advertisement
basketball Edit

Duke enters the mix for four-star forward Jaiden Delaire

RANKINGS: 2018 Rivals150 | 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2018 Team | 2018 Position

Jaiden Delaire
Jaiden Delaire (Kelly Kline/Under Armour)
Advertisement

Jaiden Delaire emerged as a high-major prospect last summer, and that’s when the first set of schools began to recruit him. But he’s continued to progress as a player since then, which - combined with his strong academic background - has more schools coming into the picture.

The biggest news for Delaire is that Duke starting to show interest. The four-star power forward visited Duke on Monday afternoon and met with Mike Krzyzewski. Virginia, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Georgetown and UConn are some of the other schools in the mix right now.

Delaire mentioned the possibility of making a stop at Georgetown later this month as well as a potential visit to Virginia. Before visiting Duke he visited UConn and Yale.

MORE: Meet Jalen Suggs, the best 2020 two-sport athlete in the country

IN HIS OWN WORDS 

Duke: “I met with Coach K (Monday). It went well. He told me to be patient and he’ll be back out to watch me in July. He knew we were coming by to say hello. I talked to them for the first time in April.”

Georgetown: “I talked to Patrick Ewing a few times. They’ve shown a lot of interest. I want to get down there soon. It’s definitely appealing to anyone like that they have one of the best big men in the history of the NBA coaching them.”

UConn: “Coach (Dan) Hurley visited me at school earlier this year and Coach (Tom) Moore texts me a lot. I talk to them pretty often. Everyone knows that’s where I’m from, and that plays a role as well. I like Coach Hurley and his staff.”

Vanderbilt: “They started recruiting me in April. They play in the SEC, and that’s a good conference. It’s a good academic and athletic program, a good balance.”

Virginia: “Virginia is a good balance of academics and athletics too. They’ve been on me for a while now. They were the No. 1 team in the country this past year. I’m going to go see them soon, too.”

RIVALS' REACTION 

Delaire said right now he’s focused on training with his travel coach and teammates for the rest of June and getting ready for an important July. He might try to squeeze in a couple more visits, but his biggest concern is making sure he’s ready to impress coaches next month. Duke will be watching him, but he’s also hoping to attract other schools. The new UConn staff has impressed the Connecticut native in its first few months on the job and could be tough to beat. However, he does seem intrigued by the schools such as Vanderbilt and Virginia, which have a strong combination of academic reputation and great basketball programs. Delaire will move forward with setting official visits after July, and he hopes to sign in the early signing period.

Advertisement