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Published Apr 19, 2019
Five-star Matthew Hurt picks Duke
Eric Bossi  •  Basketball Recruiting
National Analyst
Twitter
@ebosshoops

The decision is in for five-star senior Matthew Hurt and it didn't come as a surprise on Friday when the top 10 prospect chose Duke.

A product of Rochester (Minn.) John Marshall, Hurt can shoot with range and is a perfect fit for Duke. The return of point guard Tre Jones proved to be very helpful.

“I think he saw himself at any one of the four schools," Hurt's father Richard told Rivals.com. "One of the deciding factors was a desire to play with Tre Jones. They are both Minnesota kids and even though they never played together during high school or AAU there was alwys a admiration of each other's game form afar. He didn’t think that was going to be a possibility because he thought Tre would go to the NBA."

Of course Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke staff had something to do with landing Hurt.

Jon Scheyer has been the principle recruiter but Coach K has been really involved over the last six months," said the elder Hurt. "He feels very comfortable with the staff and Coach K and knows he’s going to be pushed and challenged in a way that helps them achieve their team goals and his individual goals.

Hurt joins a group that will now rank as the top 2019 recruiting class. Five-stars Vernon Carey Jr. and Wendell Moore are in the fold along with four-star scorer Boogie Ellis. Hurt brings his own strengths to the table.

“The role that they envision for him is a basketball player," said Hurt. "His versatility lends itself to where Coach K has talked about him being a guard or a wing on the next level. He says he doesn’t like to put numbers on positions. Matthew is a matchup probem.

“The freedom that they give is something Matthew is looking forward to. His intelligence for the game, his skill set and he’s a scorer who can score in bunches. If put in the right positions can really help lead a team.”