There are a lot of ifs ands or buts in recruiting. Some guys come in with big reputations and they never quite turn out. Other guys totally exceed expectations. As Matt Painter said a while back, there are a handful of guys who everyone knows are going to be good and the rest are a crapshoot.
As of now, it looks like Duke target Jordan Smith is in the latter camp.
Smith is a highly promising shooting guard out of Paul VI, which may ring a bell: the Fairfax school has sent Jeremy Roach, Trevor Keels, Patrick Ngongba and Darren Harris to Duke in recent years.
What sets Smith apart from many of his classmates is that his competitive desire is off the charts.
He’s not close to a commitment tyet, but at least one analyst thinks Duke will win out.
Jamie Shaw of Rivals says this: “Duke has carried a lot of the buzz around Smith for the majority of the recruitment. He has former teammates on the team and familiarity with the program. As we head into visit season, continue to watch which visits he goes on, as with a lot of these top-ranked players, he is a priority recruit at each stop. Smith has mentioned to me that he is open to signing late.”
He currently gives Duke a 40 percent chance of winning this recruiting battle, with Arkansas and Kentucky the biggest competitors. He also says that Smith may sign late.