Duke finally has its first recruit in the Class of 2016. Jayson Tatum, the nation’s No. 3 prospect on 247Sports’ composite rating, announced today that he will spend his collegiate career in Durham.
Tatum is the top small forward in the country, and held offers from a bevy of high-profile schools, including Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina and UCLA. The St. Louis native helped lead the Team USA U19 Team to a gold medal at the FIBA World Championships in Croatia earlier this month.
More from ESPN:
“I love the way the program is run and I love the way the academics are set up,” Tatum said of Duke. “My relationships with the Duke coaches were the best, and they made me a priority. They did the best job of recruiting me and have been at almost all my games, and that means a lot.”
Tatum’s only official visit was to Duke, in February for the Blue Devils’ game against Syracuse. He also made unofficial visits to Kentucky and Saint Louis.
