Duke Basketball Recruiters Contact Son of Former ACC Big Man

The Duke basketball program was among the first to reach out to Obinna Ekezie Jr. this month.

Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer and his staff haven't officially entered the Obinna Ekezie Jr. sweepstakes just yet. But two other bluebloods already have in Kentucky and Kansas. And Scheyer's Blue Devils have now reached out to the namesake son of the late-1990s starting center for then-ACC member Maryland.

ALSO READ: New Prep to Know on 2026 Blue Devil Recruiting Trail

In fact, Obinna Ekezie Jr. told Recruits Zone's Blake Smith that Duke was one the 15 schools he heard from within 36 hours of last week's opening to the direct-contact period in the 2027 cycle.

Ekezie, a 7-foot, 220-pound rising junior at newly relocated Prolific Prep (Fla.), ranks No. 7 overall on the 247Sports 2027 Composite. The five-star stacks up at No. 2 among centers in the class.

"I watch a lot of Nikola Jokic," Ekezie noted to On3's Jamie Shaw last fall. "He is so patient with the ball, the way he reads defenses and makes reads out of the post."

INFO: Top-5 2027 prospect Obinna Ekezie tells me that he’s heard from these schools since the initial contact period began:

Maryland(✅)
Tennessee
USC (✅)
UCLA (✅)
Kentucky (✅)
Miami (✅)
Duke
Cincy(✅)
Cal (✅)
UVA (✅)
Baylor
Kansas (✅)
BYU (✅)
Alabama (✅)
Louisville pic.twitter.com/MOUaZ7qvbP

— Recruits Zone (Blake Smith) (@recruitszone) June 16, 2025

Maryland, Tennessee, Southern Cal, Cincinnati, Cal, Baylor, Virginia, UCLA, Kentucky, Miami, Alabama, Louisville, BYU, and Kansas are the others that dialed up Ekezie early last week.

Stay tuned to Duke Blue Devils On SI for more Duke basketball recruiting news.