Photo credit: Jonah Hinebaugh-USA TODAY Sports
Duke Basketball Prize Helps Lift Blue Devil-Friendly School to Title
Darren Harris, the first of now-five 2024 recruits to commit to Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer, was the Peach Jam MVP in July. He's won multiple 3-point contests, even successfully defending his crown at one event this season. And on Monday night, he added a WCAC championship to his prep accolades.
The Paul VI Catholic (Va.) four-star wing, arguably still underrated at No. 52 overall on the 247Sports 2024 Composite in light of his routinely visible clutch gene, finished with 21 points in the 63-61 victory over Gonzaga (D.C.) at American University to help cap off his team's perfect record in conference play.
Harris shot 6-for-13 from the field, 2-for-7 from deep, and 7-for-8 at the line, adding six rebounds, one steal, and one block across his 30 minutes on the floor. The 6-foot-6 sniper's threes set the tone in the first two minutes, and one of his buckets inside the arc, a smooth jumper, extended his squad's lead with under two minutes to play.
Paul VI, a perennial prep powerhouse that has produced two Duke basketball guards this decade in former one-and-done Trevor Keels and current Blue Devil senior Jeremy Roach, not to mention another 2024 signee in five-star center Patrick Ngongba II (out with a foot injury), takes a 29-2 overall record into playoff action.
Ngongba (No. 23 composite ranking) and Harris are set to arrive in Durham this summer alongside Wisconsin Lutheran five-star wing Kon Knueppel (No. 16) and Duke basketball's pair of McDonald's All-Americans in Montverde (Fla.) five-star forward Cooper Flagg (No. 1) and North Meck (N.C.) five-star forward Isaiah Evans (No. 13).
Meanwhile, Scheyer and his staff, already boasting the nation's top-ranked haul with those five early Blue Devil signees in tow, are still in the running for NBA Academy Africa five-star big man Khaman Maluach.
Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI.com for more Duke basketball recruiting news.