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Duke coaching staff putting in miles during live evaluation period

Coach Mike Krzyzewski and assistants have had a busy week
Shawn Krest|
DJ Steward's twitter

The fall live evaluation period began this week, and Duke’s staff has been on the road doing work.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski and his assistants have been in to see several top prospects around the country. Here’s what we know about the Duke coaches’ itinerary:

On Monday, Coach K visited Adrin “A.J.” Griffin at an open gym at his high school in White Plains.

The five-star small forward in the class of 2021 was offered by Duke in June. He’s a top-10 prospect and top 3 small forward.

“I talk to him all the time, but of course, I was excited that he came out here,” Griffin told the Journal News. “I just stayed locked in and played my same game.”

“It’s a special day, right?” Griffin’s high school coach Pat Massaroni said. “One of the greatest coaches of all time, one of the most historic programs. To be in your gym, to make it a priority to come see a player in your program — it’s a pretty special day for the school, the community, and our program.”

Georgetown and Pitt were also on hand to watch Griffin.

Griffin’s father played 10 years in the NBA and earned a ring as a Raptors assistant last season. Brother Alan plays for Illinois, and sister Aubrey is a freshman at UConn.

A.J. averaged 20.9 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.5 blocks and 2.4 steals per game as a sophomore, 20.5 ppg during EYBL summer ball and played for the gold medal winning Team USA U16 team this summer.

He plans to visit Duke for Oct. 18’s season-opening Countdown to Craziness.

Monday evening, a member of the Duke staff (who wasn’t identified) visited Memphis five-star 2021 point guard Kennedy Chandler.

Chandler is the No. 17 prospect in 247 Sports, No. 13 in Rivals. Both services have him as the No. 2 point guard. He averaged 20 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals per game last year and 14 points, 5.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.8 steals on the EYBL circuit.

He’s still waiting for a scholarship offer from the Blue Devils.

On Tuesday, the entire Duke staff was expected on a visit to five-star shooting guard Max Christie.

He’s the No. 15 prospect and No. 2 shooting guard according to 247. Rivals has him No. 18 and No. 4 at point guard.

Krzyzewski also dropped by his home town of Chicago to visit five-star 2020 combination guard DJ Steward.

Rated No. 25 in the senior class and No. 6 at combo guard by 247, No. 30, No. 10 shooting guard by Rivals, Steward has an official visit to Duke planned for this weekend.

DePaul, Duke, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, Louisville, North Carolina and Texas are in his final eight.

The Duke visit is sandwiched in between officials to Texas and Louisville.

On Wednesday, Duke planned to visit four-star 2020 center Mark Williams.

Williams has named a final five of Duke, Michigan, Ohio State, Stanford and UCLA. He’s taken an official visit to UCLA and has October officials booked for Michigan and OSU. He’ll take an official visit to Duke on November 1.

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Shawn Krest
SHAWN KREST

Shawn Krest has covered Duke for the last decade. His work has appeared in The Sporting News, USA Today, CBSSports.com, ESPN.com and dozens of other national and regional outlets. Shawn's work has won awards from the USBWA, PFWA, BWAA and NC Press Association.

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