In an interview with Scout.com, Harry Giles calls Duke commit Jayson Tatum his “best friend” but says he will have to make the “right decision for me.”
The 6-foot-8 Tatum committed to Duke at the Peach Jam and immediately said he would begin recruiting his close friend Giles to join him.
“I mean, that’s my best friend,” Giles told Scout. “So it’s going to impact me a little bit, but at the same time I have to make the best decision for me. Regardless if he went to Duke or not, if he didn’t go there, I would still consider Duke just as much. At the same time, I have to make the right decision for me. If the right decision is we are both at the same school, it is what it is.”
Duke appears to have tremendous recruiting momentum now with the addition of Tatum and the perception that they can also add Giles to their 2016 class. The Blue Devils are also in strong for 2016 point guard Frank Jackson, as well as 2017 targets Trae Young and Michael Porter Jr., as well as Gary Trent Jr. and Wendell Carter Jr. Both pairings have discussed package deals.
The 6-foot-10 Giles out of Winston-Salem (N.C.) Wesleyan is considering five schools — Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Kansas.
He recently broke down those schools in an interview with SNY.tv:
Duke: “Coach K is a legendary coach, great guy. I have a great relationship with the coaching staff. It’s at home as well so you can never go wrong staying at home. And they’re just legendary, they produce a lot of pros. The players got a relationship with the coach after they leave Duke.”
On whether he talks with Jason Tatum and Dennis Smith about a package deal: “We talk about it here and there. We just talk as boys…We kind of throw it in there from time to time but we gotta make the right decision for us.”
Kentucky: “Coach Cal [John Calipari], great dude, man. I have a great relationship with him. I’ve known him since my freshman year. He developed a lot of players at Memphis and Kentucky, so I can relate to that. Kentucky’s a great place, a great program, so you can never go wrong going there.”
North Carolina: “Not really [concerned about the academic scandal]. You never really know the truth, so it don’t bother me. You just gotta trust the coaching staff that’s recruiting you to tell the honest truth.”
Wake Forest: “Coach [Danny] Manning is a great dude. He’s from North Carolina as well. We’re kind of similar…Wake Forest is in my hometown where I live so Wake Forest wouldn’t be a bad deal, either.”
Kansas: “Great program, they’re known for developing bigs. Coach [Bill] Self is cool, the coaching staff is really cool, so you can never go wrong with them.”
Photo: USA Basketball
