Ex-Duke Basketball Signee Cancels Visit, Reveals Finalists

On April 11, roughly a year after committing to the Duke basketball program, Mackenzie Mgbako announced his decommitment from the Blue Devils. One month later, according to a tweet on Tuesday from Cerebro Sports' Andrew Slater, the five-star small forward's reopened recruitment is down to two schools: Kansas and Indiana.

Mgbako, who ranked as high as No. 2 on the 247Sports 2023 Composite last summer but has since fallen to No. 8, had planned four visits. He took three of those trips, including to his finalists and St. John's. But the final one, originally on tap to Louisville this weekend, will no longer happen.

There's no word yet on when the 6-foot-8, 210-pound versatile talent will name a winner.

Indiana was the last to host him. And judging by the released pictures, he enjoyed the visit. So with that in mind, some favor Mike Woodson and the Hoosiers.

From the 📸 shoot, Indiana HC @MikeWoodsonNBA X ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mackenzie Mgbako’23 @MackenzieMgbako #iubb 🔴⚪️ https://t.co/maKj9rGZet pic.twitter.com/jkFzSXyVdi
— 𝒜𝓃𝒹𝓇ℯ𝓌 𝒮𝓁𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓇 (@Andrew__Slater) May 7, 2023

Regardless of whether Mgbako chooses Kansas or Indiana, chances are he won't face the Blue Devils unless they square off in the NCAA Tournament. After all, Duke and Kansas do not meet in the Champions Classic this next go-round, and the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, which might have pitted Duke against Indiana, concluded last year.

Had Mgbako landed at Louisville, which seemed like a frontrunner the past few weeks, he would have seen the Blue Devils twice, both home and away, as part of the ACC regular-season slate.

Even without Mackenzie Mgbako, Duke basketball's four-deep collection of five-star 2023 talents gives the Blue Devils the nation's No. 2-ranked class behind Kentucky, per 247Sports.

The four incoming Blue Devils are Notre Dame (Calif.) point guard Caleb Foster, Centennial (Calif.) combo guard Jared McCain, Montverde (Fla.) power forward Sean Stewart, and Worcester (Mass.) combo forward TJ Power. As of the most recent update, all four are among the top 20 on the 247Sports 2023 Composite.

Last year's Duke basketball haul, which consisted of seven recruits and was the first under head coach Jon Scheyer, also featured four of the top 20 in the class.

Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country for more Duke basketball recruiting updates.

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