While Nike stands to benefit from its upcoming “training session” in the Bahamas, so does Duke.
Of the 12 players headed to train in the Bahamas Aug. 19-23, only two are committed to colleges: Jonathan Isaac (Florida State) and Jayson Tatum (Duke).
The 6-foot-8 Tatum will now have five days in the Caribbean alongside his best friend Harry Giles and other Duke targets including Wendell Carter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., Michael Porter Jr., Trae Young and Mohamed Bamba.
“They will talk about it since Tatum and Giles are there, too,” one AAU coach said when asked how much Carter Jr. and Trent Jr. would discuss a possible package. “Tatum might become the best recruiter this year.”
Last month at the Peach Jam, Tatum committed to Duke in front of head coach Mike Krzyzewski and several assistants. He now has himself in a Duke uniform as his Twitter avatar.
The 6-10 Giles was also in the building at the Peach Jam and some in the college basketball world believe it’s a fait accompli that Giles will also land at Duke.
“That one is over,” one D-1 assistant said in reference to his belief that Giles will ultimately land at Duke over his other selections, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas and Wake Forest.
Meantime, 2017s Carter Jr. and Trent Jr. have discussed their own package, with Duke a strong candidate, as have 2017s Porter Jr. and Young.
The 6-11 Bamba, meantime, also owns a Duke offer and recently said he wanted one before Coach K actually offered it.
“I want that offer as much as I have any other offer,” Bamba told Josh Newman in July. “Although they do have a really great program, it’s sort of, not a finishing point, but it would be a great accomplishment if I get that offer.”
Of course, Kentucky is involved with Bamba and all these other guys, too.
The Wildcats have offered 10 of the 12 players going to the Bahamas — everybody except Tatum and Isaac — according to Ben Roberts.
But Kentucky doesn’t have a 2016 commit going to the Bahamas, whereas Duke does.
So Tatum could play a pivotal role here in being a Pied Piper of sorts for guys like Giles, Porter Jr., Young, Trent Jr., Carter Jr. and Bamba.
“I would love to go to school with a lot of great players because I want to have success in college, so at the end of the day when you choose a school you are going to look into where certain kids are going to certain universities and who you can team up with, so it would be great,” Trent Jr. told me last Friday at the Big Strick practice.
So there you have it.
Nike isn’t the only one who stands to benefit from this upcoming Bahamas trip.
