Duke’s recruiting picture for the next couple of classes keeps tightening, and Colton Hiller now sits right at the center of it.
The Blue Devils have stacked up a busy stretch on the trail over the past week. Five-star Kager Knueppel, who committed over the summer, is already in the fold for the 2027 class.
Australian point guard Luke Paul followed with his pledge last week. Then Duke brought in five-star forward Asa Montgomery for an official visit over the weekend, with Montgomery also in the building for Saturday night’s Countdown to Craziness event.
By Monday, Duke had added another huge name to the list, hosting Colton Hiller, the No. 1 player in the 2028 class, on an official visit.
That run of visits set off some buzz on Wednesday when On3’s Joe Tipton posted that Duke “has emerged as the frontrunner for two 5⭐️ prospects, according to sources.”
It doesn’t take much decoding to see where that points. Duke has only a couple of major targets in play right now, and both were on campus within a four-day window.
Hiller’s situation is especially interesting because he has been rumored to be considering a reclassification into the 2027 cycle. His official visits to Florida and Duke over the last month only added fuel to that possibility.
Then Jon Scheyer added another layer to the conversation at ACC Media Days on Wednesday.
When Matt Giles of Duke on SI asked Scheyer about Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje and the idea of a two-year path at Duke, Scheyer didn’t exactly shut the door on the broader trend.
"We tried to do it two years ago and fake Cooper's (Flagg) birth certificate to make him two weeks younger, and then we would've been set," Scheyer joked." You're gonna see this more.
It's just the way college has changed. The fact that you get a guy like JoJo for two years to grow with him, to have the continuity, I promise you that's the first of many guys to do it in years to come.
"Although I don't think it's for everybody. I think you have to be really specific, from our point of view, and if I was giving advice. I'd be very careful if I had a kid in that position of who could actually do that."
That line of thinking fits Hiller pretty neatly. If he reclassifies, he would not be eligible for the NBA Draft until 2029, setting him up for the same kind of two-year runway Boumtje Boumtje has at Duke. Hiller is already built like a college wing, listed at 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds, and at 16 he’s physically ahead of most high school players.
He also became the consensus No. 1 player in the 2028 class after AJ Williams reclassified. Now the Coatesville, Pennsylvania native could be headed down a similar road himself.
There’s no inside scoop here, but the timing makes plenty of sense. Hiller took two official visits this fall, and Duke and Florida have long looked like the two programs to beat. Right now, the Blue Devils appear to have the edge, even with Florida’s built-in advantage of Hiller’s older brother being committed to play football in Gainesville.
If Duke lands Hiller and gets him to reclassify into 2027, while also adding Montgomery, Scheyer would once again be staring at a monster class. Add Knueppel and Paul into the mix, and the Blue Devils’ haul starts looking ridiculous all over again.
In Other News...
Duke Defense Faces Its Biggest Identity Test Yet At Georgia Tech
A bye week often gives a coaching staff time to sharpen the details, and for Jonathan Patke, Dukes defensive coordinator, it has also meant reinforcing something less tangible: the soul of the unit. The Blue Devils have taken real steps forward on defense this season, sitting near the top nationally in scoring and total defense, and Manny Diaz has pointed to the groups cohesion and its ability to keep opponents from generating easy chunk gains as a major reason.
Georgia Tech brings a different kind of test after making changes on offense, with a new play caller and a new quarterback steering the operation. For Duke, the matchup is less about matching stats than proving its identity holds up when the pictures change, the pace shifts and the game asks the defense to communicate on the fly. The next step for this unit is about whether those improvements still look the same when the pressure rises. [Read more 🡒]
Undefeated Duke Faces Another Chance To Prove This Start Is Real
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Georgia Tech comes in off a bye looking for a reset after a difficult season, and Brent Keys team will try to build around first-year starter Alberto Mendoza. For Duke, the broader question is not just whether it can stay unbeaten, but whether it can keep answering the same test on the road, against a team still searching for traction and a setting that has made this matchup tricky before. [Read more 🡒]
Dukes Frontcourt May Hinge On One Underrated Newcomer
Jon Scheyer keeps circling back to Drew Scharnowski as one of the more intriguing pieces in Dukes offseason haul, and not just because the Belmont transfer arrives with a reputation for bringing size and versatility to the frontcourt. The Blue Devils are trying to sort out a rotation that can hold up once games start counting, and Scharnowskis presence was always going to matter because of how he fits with returning big man Patrick Ngongba and the younger forwards trying to earn minutes.
For now, though, Duke is waiting. Scharnowski is dealing with a knee injury and will not be available for the exhibition against Belmont, which at least delays the first look at how the frontcourt might take shape. Scheyer has indicated the two big men could share the floor often, and there is even a path for Scharnowski to push into the starting mix, a development that would not only change the look of Dukes lineup but also ease the pressure on freshmen Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje and Cameron Williams as they learn on the fly. [Read more 🡒]