Five-star forward Asa Montgomery made it official on Wednesday afternoon, choosing Duke over a group of finalists that included North Carolina, UConn, Georgia Tech, and LSU.
The 6-foot-7 prospect is the No. 3 overall recruit in the 2027 class, per Rivals, and his decision adds another headline name to Jon Scheyer’s early class. Montgomery joins Kager Knueppel and Luke Paul in Duke’s 2027 recruiting haul.
North Carolina had its chance to make a strong impression. Montgomery took an official visit to Chapel Hill on September 25, giving Michael Malone and his staff a shot to sell him on the Tar Heels. But the trail quickly shifted after his next stop, which came just eight miles down Tobacco Road.
Montgomery’s official visit to Duke followed the next week, when he attended the Blue Devils’ Countdown to Craziness event. From there, the momentum became pretty hard to miss. Crystal Ball predictions for Duke started coming in soon after, and Montgomery later canceled previously scheduled visits to Arizona and Louisville.
By the time he announced he would make his decision on Wednesday, the outcome had become widely expected.
Montgomery’s rise has been swift over the last several months, and he now stands among the top prospects in the 2027 class. For North Carolina, the focus now turns elsewhere, with DeMarcus Henry and CJ Rosser remaining the more emphasized targets for the Tar Heels. UNC would have loved to land Montgomery, but once the odds swung away from Chapel Hill, Malone and his staff moved on and kept working other elite options.
Now the Tar Heels are hoping Henry becomes their first 2027 commit on Friday.
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Powers-Johnsons appeal is pretty straightforward for the Panthers: he has experience at right guard and center, and he profiles as either a plug-in starter or a useful depth piece depending on how the rest of the board breaks. Carolinas own roster needs make that kind of flexibility attractive, especially with other teams making moves and the market for interior linemen never really getting simple this time of year. [Read more 🡒]