BRADENTON, Fla. - In a time when most players are cutting down their lists and getting close to a decision, five-star Trevon Duval has decided to do the opposite and open his recruitment back up.
This is good news for schools that weren't originally in the mix.
Duval is the top-ranked point guard in the country and ranked No. 3 overall in the Rivals150. He doesn't mind that it's already his senior year and he's virtually starting over.
“I just want to take a step back and restart a little bit," he said. "This is a big decision for me and it's my future. I don’t want to put any limitations on who can recruit me and who can’t. Every coach and program that wants to recruit me can recruit me. Everyone has a fair shot and I don’t have any bias on who has or hasn’t recruited me before now.”
Duval recaps recent visit to Kansas
Duval originally had a top nine of Arizona, Baylor, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, UCLA and Villanova. He recently took an unofficial visit to Kansas for its Late Night in the Phog event a few weeks ago and left the weekend with a good impression.
“That was a pretty good visit," he said. "The event was pretty cool and I got a chance to see the fan atmosphere there. I talked to Josh Jackson, Devontae’ Graham and Carlton Bragg a lot about the program and coach (Bill) Self. They just said that he’s a good coach and he’ll get on you but at the end of the day you’re a better player for it.”
New schools in the mix
A few new schools that have recently reached out to the top point guard in the country include Duke, Seton Hall and Kentucky. Mike Krzyzewski is also recruiting fellow 2017 point guard Matt Coleman pretty heavily.
“I talked to Matt at USA Basketball about his Duke visit and it was good to talk to someone that’s been there and is also a point guard," Duval said. "Coach (Jeff) Capel has been talking to me a lot recently and they just want to get me up there for a game and a visit sometime this season.”
Another school that is new to Duval’s recruitment is Seton Hall. Showing that he’s a priority, three coaches have recently been down to see Duval at IMG Academy.
“They did great things with Isaiah Whitehead last season and I think I could go in and be the same kind of point guard he was," he said.
As far as Kentucky goes, Duval is just feeling that one out. John Calipari already has Trae Young, Quade Green and Tremont Waters on his target list but, again, Duval is open to hearing out the Cats and possibly getting to Lexington for a visit.
Latest with Maryland
Maryland has been consistently in the mix for a few years now. Mark Turgeon has been down to IMG Academy already this fall and Maryland commit Bruno Fernando has been recruiting Duval to join him.
“I didn’t even know Bruno had committed to Maryland," Duval said. "He told me he was up there for his visit and everyone was talking about me coming up there so yeah, he’s definitely recruiting me to join him now. I have a great relationship with the coaches and have been to Maryland a couple times so there’s a comfort level there.”
What's next?
With his senior basketball season starting next month, Duval is trying to fit some visits in around his schedule.
“We have a pretty new team here at IMG and playing ball comes first for me,” he said. “I want to get to as many schools as I can whether that’s an official visit or unofficial visit and some of the schools from my old top nine will definitely make the cut. Right now though, I have no visits planned.”
Rivals.com's reaction
This one is definitely going the distance. Once other teams start to settle on point guards we’ll see the playing field get smaller for Duval. Right now everyone needs a point guard so why not recruit them all?
Duval could play anywhere and will make an instant impact. It’s a good sign that Kansas already got him on campus for a visit but Maryland has long been the perceived favorite among the recruiting world. A lot can change between now and early next year when Duval will ultimately decide.
