Will Brunson’s name is starting to travel well beyond his family ties in Durham.
The 6-foot-5, 185-pound small forward, son of former Duke reserve Stan Brunson, has moved from Rutgers Preparatory School in New Jersey to IMG Academy in Florida and has also taken a noticeable jump in the 247Sports 2028 Composite. He was No. 32 overall when he visited Duke unofficially last November, and he’s now up to No. 28 in the cycle.
Brunson recently laid out where his recruitment stands while appearing on the Up Next Podcast, and the list already includes several major stops. “I've been on a visit to Notre Dame, NC State, Duke, and Oklahoma State,” Brunson said.
He added that his focus is less about logos and more about fit: “To be honest, I'm just really looking for an opportunity to get on the floor [in college]. But I also want a coach that believes in me, a coach that really believes in me and wants to put work into my development.”
The Duke connection is obvious. His father played for Mike Krzyzewski from 1993-96, and the Blue Devils were the family team growing up.
But Brunson made it clear that he’s not locked into any one school emotionally. “Well, you know, my dad went to Duke,” Brunson explained.
“So, everybody in the house was always going for Duke when I was growing up. In the past, like, three years, I just became a huge college basketball fan...
I'm not really a fan of [any one school] right now.”
On the floor, Brunson says his mid-range game is the part that jumps out first. “My strength is my mid-range,” Brunson said on the Up Next Podcast.
“I feel like I work on that every day. So, just getting to my spots and getting to my mid-range when I'm not feeling my three or there's a big man in the paint, that's my strength.
Another thing I feel like is my decision-making because I've always been a pass-first type of guy... I'm trying to do it all.
That's what I strive to do.”
For now, Brunson is still waiting to appear on Duke’s official wishlist, even though he already has almost two dozen offers. And as things stand, Jon Scheyer and his staff have only two offers out on the 2028 trail: Coatesville Area High School (Pa.) five-star small forward Colton Hiller, the No. 1 player in the 247Sports 2028 Composite, and St.
Francis High School (Calif.) five-star center Yann Kamagate, who is currently No. 2 overall and a candidate to reclassify to 2027. Hiller has also scheduled an official visit with the Blue Devils.
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Chelsea Gray, Elizabeth Balogun and Miela Sowah all are representing different countries, which means Duke fans will have plenty of chances to track the programs global footprint as the event unfolds. For a fan base used to watching the Blue Devils through one lens, this is one of those rare weeks when the rooting interests stretch well beyond the usual borders, and the biggest question may be which of those familiar names ends up shaping the story in Berlin. [Read more 🡒]