Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer (Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
Getting Ridiculous: Duke Basketball Lands Yet Another Five-Star Prep
Regarding five-star recruits, Duke basketball could share better with others. Nah.
Paul VI Catholic (Va.) center Patrick Ngongba II announced his commitment to Blue Devil recruiting mastermind Jon Scheyer on Saturday afternoon. His addition to the 2024 haul should guarantee a third top-two class and second top-ranked collection for the second-year head coach since he took over for the 2022 cycle.
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Ngongba, who chose Duke over fellow finalists Kansas State and Kentucky, is a 6-foot-11, 235-pound composite five-star. He ranks No. 25 overall, No. 5 among centers, and No. 2 in Virginia on the 247Sports 2024 Composite.
He's a teammate at Paul VI Catholic to the Blue Devils' first 2024 commit, four-star wing Darren Harris (No. 60 composite ranking).
The Blue Devils' 2024 class now sits five deep, as Patrick Ngongba II joins Darren Harris, Wisconsin Lutheran five-star forward Kon Knueppel, North Meck (N.C.) five-star forward Isaiah Evans, and arguably the No. 1 talent on the high school scene, Montverde (Fla.) five-star forward Cooper Flagg.
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Here's a list of the 13 composite five-star talents the Blue Devils have reeled in since Scheyer assumed the recruiting reins from now-retired Duke basketball legend Mike Krzyzewski only two and a half years ago (composite ranking in their class in parentheses):
- Dereck Lively II (No. 2)
- Dariq Whitehead (No. 3)
- Kyle Filipowski (No. 4)
- Mark Mitchell (No. 13)
- Tyrese Proctor (No. 23)
- Jared McCain (No. 13)
- Sean Stewart (No. 17)
- Caleb Foster (No. 19)
- TJ Power (No. 20)
- Cooper Flagg (No. 1)
- Isaiah Evans (No. 11)
- Kon Knueppel (No. 16)
- Patrick Ngongba II (No. 25)
They account for roughly 20 percent of all the nation's five-star recruits across those three cycles.
And that's not to mention the three other Duke basketball pledges in that span: Harris, 2022 four-star Jaden Schutt, and 2022 three-star Christian Reeves.
Meanwhile, Jon Scheyer and his crew look to snag another one or two five-star seniors as they continue pursuing Don Bosco Prep (N.J.) guard Dylan Harper (No. 2) and Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.) guard VJ Edgecombe (No. 6 composite ranking).
Good luck to everyone battling the Duke recruiting team for anyone. They'll need it.
Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI.com for more Duke basketball recruiting news.