Duke Basketball Recruiting: Biggest Competition for Top 2016 Targets

Duke has already made major noise on the 2016 recruiting front thanks to a commitment from 5-star forward Jayson Tatum, the highest-rated player from that class to decide on his future so far.

The Blue Devils are far from done, though, as they continue to pursue several other targets to help fill the roster for the 2016-17 season.

Tatum chose Duke over Kentucky and North Carolina, among others, and those are just some of the teams that Duke will run into often while in pursuit of other top prospects.

Read along as we update where things stand between Duke and its remaining targets, along with a look at which schools they have to compete with for those commitments.

C Marques Bolden

Credit: 247Sports

Height, weight: 6'10", 235 lbs

Rank: 16th

The competition: Baylor, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas

Duke has had success pulling top players out of Texas, getting Justise Winslow from the Lone Star State for 2014-15 and Matt Jones the year before. Jones is from the same high school in DeSoto as current target Marques Bolden, but that connection might not be enough to help the Blue Devils beat out plenty of competition.

Bolden, the top-rated center in the 2016 class, has 11 offers from teams in the ACC, Big 12 and SEC. Predictions are trending toward him staying close to home, either at Baylor or Kansas, but he most recently visited Texas in June and would be a signature piece of new Longhorns coach Shaka Smart's full recruiting class.

PF Harry Giles

Credit: 247Sports

Height, weight: 6'10", 210 lbs

Rank: 2nd

The competition: Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Wake Forest

Harry Giles recently dropped out of the top spot in 247Sports' composite rankings, but that in no way lessens the interest the High Point, North Carolina, prospect has garnered. He just recently cut his list down from eight to five teams, and with two those of those being Duke's in-state rivals, it should make for a thrilling courtship.

Wake Forest is the big outlier in the final five, and that shows how much progress Danny Manning has made with the Demon Deacons despite only a little more than one year on the job. The rest of the finalists are the typical blue bloods, and the push to get him from UNC is similar to how it was between Duke and the Tar Heels for 2015 in-state prospect Brandon Ingram, who ended up signing with Duke.

The Blue Devils are the favorites, according to 247Sports' Crystal Ball predictor, with 74 percent of the picks to this point. Giles and Jayson Tatum—who committed to Duke earlier this month—have been open about their interest in being college teammates, which adds to Duke's chances of getting them in a package deal similar to the Tyus Jones/Jahlil Okafor tandem from 2014-15.

PG Frank Jackson

Credit: 247Sports

Height, weight: 6'3", 180 lbs

Rank: 13th

The competition: Arizona, Maryland, Stanford, Utah

Frank Jackson was a very early commitment to BYU, but last winter he backed out and decided to see who else would be interested in the rising guard from Utah. And boy, did he find out.

Duke wasn't alone in desiring this flashy scorer, nor was it the first. That would be Maryland, which offered Jackson in April and then was followed by Duke in June. Despite the late arrival in his recruitment, though, the 247Sports Crystal Ball gives the Blue Devils a 92 percent chance of getting Jackson's commitment.

Three Duke coaches have been following Jackson the last few days, first at the Adidas Uprising All-American Camp in New York last week and now this week in Las Vegas. Arizona might be the main competition, though, as Brad Allis of 247Sports wrote that Jackson will be visiting the Wildcats in August.

SG Joshua Jackson

Credit: 247Sports

Height, weight: 6'7", 185 lbs

Rank: 1st

The competition: Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan State, North Carolina, UNLV

The newly minted No. 1 player in the 2016 class recently pared his long list of suitors to a more manageable nine, and while Duke made the cut, it's not considered one of the favorites. The Detroit native—who is set to play this season for a prep school in California—seems to be leaning closest to schools like Arizona and Kansas, though he told ESPN's Reggie Rankin that he's still considering all of the finalists.

"I want a college coach that is going to push me to get better," Jackson told Rankin.

That certainly sounds like a description for Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, seeing as he just had three freshmen get taken in the first round of June's NBA draft.

PG Dennis Smith

Credit: 247Sports

Height, weight: 6'3", 180 lbs

Rank: 5th

The competition: Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Wake Forest

Despite being the highest-rated point guard in the 2016 class, Dennis Smith isn't considered as much of a priority to Duke as Frank Jackson has become. In effect, Smith is Plan B for the Blue Devils, yet because the North Carolina native will be easily accessible during the season, they can always ramp up the interest later on without much effort.

Smith seems intent on staying close to home, as five of the six teams in his final group are ACC schools and all are either within his home state or a relatively short drive away in Kentucky. NC State is trending as the leader, based on earning 89 percent of Crystal Ball predictions, but Kentucky had offered just three days before Smith announced his finalists, and it should be considered a strong player as well.

Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports, unless otherwise noted.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.