Duke Basketball Recruiting: How Amile Jefferson Will Impact Future Classes

Highly-touted forward prospect Amile Jefferson will be a Duke Blue Devil, which just goes to show that Duke is still one of the premier landing spots for the nation's elite players.

Jefferson considered following in the footsteps of other super-freshman before him and joining forces with some of the nation's other top recruits at Kentucky, but at the end of the day the 6'7" forward chose the Blue Devils.

Jefferson's decision is a great sign for Duke recruiting. The fact that they can still out-recruit the likes of Kentucky for some of the nation's best players shows that Duke basketball will continue to be among the best in the country.

Jefferson will join shooting guard Rasheed Sulaimon as the only two recruits for Duke, but both figure to play quality minutes for the team in 2012. Jefferson will fill the hole left in the frontcourt by the departure of Miles Plumlee.

Jefferson has referred to Duke as a "once in a lifetime opportunity," and the fact that Duke signed him after originally being omitted from the forward's final list of schools shows the prestige that the program still holds with recruits.

Jefferson will find himself in a good situation with Duke. As one of only two signings in the 2012 class, Jefferson will be surrounded by players who have experience and NBA-level talent. A combination that's hard to find in today's one-and-done culture.

With only one signing before Jefferson, it appeared Duke would not have a top 10 recruiting class. With the addition of Jefferson, Duke's class vaults into the top 10 and adds to their already talented roster.

Jefferson's recruitment was one of the more drawn out and highly publicized processes of this year's class. When Duke was able to land Jefferson they not only landed a future star with a bright future, they also set a precedent for other future stars that Duke is still a high-profile landing spot for big-time recruits looking to make a name for themselves.