Duke Basketball Recruiting: Updates on Blue Devils' Top Targets

This summer has generated a lot of positive momentum for Duke basketball recruiting.

The Blue Devils already received a commitment from Grayson Allen, one of the best shooting guards in the country, and they are in contention with many of the other top prospects in the class of 2014.

While most schools are hoping to land a prospect who could have a major impact in his freshman season, Duke is pursuing a number of players who project to have outstanding success in their college careers.

The following list looks at the latest developments with Duke's top targets.

Devin Booker

Devin Booker, the 27th-ranked player in the class of 2014 by Rivals.com, trimmed his list to five finalists earlier this week—the Blue Devils were not in his group of five.

Booker announced via Twitter that he would be selecting between Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State and Missouri.

It’s disappointing news for Duke fans, but certainly not unexpected. As a 6’5”, 180-pound shooting guard, Booker would have been joining a Blue Devil program that appears to be loaded at the wing position for the next couple years.

Booker became a long shot for Duke when Grayson Allen, another talented shooting guard, committed to playing for the Blue Devils earlier this year.

Goodluck Okonoboh

Goodluck Okonoboh is a leading candidate to win “Best Name” of any recruit from the class of 2014.

He’s also one of the best post players in next year’s class.

At 6’9”, 220 pounds, Okonoboh is regarded as one of the best shot blockers in the country and likes to think of himself as a young Amare Stoudemire due to his athleticism.

While he’s not receiving the same hype that other big-man prospects Myles Turner and Jahlil Okafor are getting, Okonoboh is a post player who will make an instant impact at the next level.

In a recent interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal, Okonoboh said:

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I’m still learning about a lot of programs. I’m open to everybody. I don’t have a list. I have no favorites.

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Duke is in contention, but he’s also received offers from UNLV, Indiana, Syracuse, Ohio State and many other high-profile programs.

Justise Winslow

It’s been quite a summer for Justise Winslow.

The 6’6”, 210-pound five-star forward from Houston, Texas, spent the first part of the summer representing the United States as a member of the U19 World Championship Team, helping the squad capture a gold medal.

Winslow then returned and immediately began playing in various AAU tournaments around the country, where he’s been impressing college coaches and recruiting analysts.

Winslow recently narrowed his list to eight schools, with Duke still in the mix. The Blue Devils have offered him a scholarship, but they’re competing against Kansas, Kentucky, Florida and Arizona, which have also offered scholarships.

Though he’s still going through the recruiting process, 247sports.com currently lists Arizona and Duke as his top two.

Kevon Looney

Duke has been high on Kevon Looney’s list for the past year, and nothing about that has changed over the last few months.

The 6’9”, 220-pound forward from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the 11th-ranked player in the class of 2014, according to Rivals.com, and is an extremely athletic and versatile power forward.

Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News compares Looney’s game to Kenyon Martin and expects him to make an impact in his first season in college.

It appears the recruiting battle over Kevon Looney will be decided between Duke, UCLA, Florida, Tennessee, Michigan State and Wisconsin. 247Sports is predicting Looney will end up at Duke.

Myles Turner

No player has climbed more in recruiting rankings over the past three months than Myles Turner.

With a number of impressive performances in multiple AAU tournaments against some of the nation’s best players, Turner shot up many recruiting boards and is now being viewed as a 5-star prospect and one of the top players in the class of 2014.

At 6’11”, 225 pounds, Turner is a post player with tremendous upside, which is why he’s received scholarship offers from over 60 schools.

Duke is working hard to get Turner to schedule some campus visits for the upcoming season, but his final decision could determine whether or not Jahlil Okafor becomes a Blue Devil.

Tyus Jones

Tyus Jones used Twitter earlier this week to announce his scheduled visits for the upcoming season and, as expected, it was good news for the Blue Devils.

The No. 1-ranked point guard in the class of 2014 will take official visits to Baylor, Kentucky, Kansas and Duke, with the Blue Devils receiving the final official visit.

He was part of a major story in recruiting circles in the past two weeks when Jahlil Okafor’s AAU coach said he believed Okafor and Jones would end up playing for Duke. Jones and Okafor have talked openly about wanting to play together in college.

Okafor was quick to refute the report that Duke was his leader in the recruiting process, but Jones has recently been quiet on the topic.

Duke is listed, per 247Sports, as the leader for Jones, and all signs appear to be pointing to Jones becoming a Blue Devil.

Jahlil Okafor

Okafor is the No. 1-ranked recruit in the class of 2014, and his interest in Duke has been a hot topic over the past two weeks due to some comments from his AAU coach.

Okafor’s coach, Mike Irvin, told Michael O’Brien of the Chicago Sun Times that he believed Duke had a good chance to land Okafor and that Mike Krzyzewski had done a great job of recruiting the highly-touted prospect.

This story quickly led to reports that Duke had emerged as Okafor’s leader, which he refuted on Twitter. His father also expressed displeasure with the developments, saying his son didn’t have a leader and that he wants to enjoy the recruiting process.

It was an unusual turn of events, but just part of what comes with the territory of being the nation’s top recruit.

However, Duke still has a great chance to land Okafor and will be his last official visit when he joins Tyus Jones for a trip to Durham on October 25.

Which of these recruits do you think will become Blue Devils? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.