Duke Blue Devils get verbal commitment from five-star junior guard Jared McCain in 2023 class
Five-star junior guard Jared McCain announced his commitment to Duke on Friday, becoming the Blue Devils' third five-star pledge in the 2023 class.
McCain chose the Blue Devils over Gonzaga.
"I wanted to get it over with because I knew where I wanted to go," McCain told ESPN. "As soon as we won the state championship, I was ready. After visiting the [Duke] campus, it was eye-opening. I attended the Virginia game. The family atmosphere and community is what I was looking for."
McCain becomes the sixth five-star prospect Duke has landed since Jon Scheyer was named the coach-in-waiting following Mike Krzyzewski's retirement announcement last spring.
"I formed a great relationship with Jon Scheyer and staff that was second to none," McCain said. "He would call me after both wins and losses and offer great advice. Chris Carrawell and Nolan Smith are cool guys and strong communicators. Chris Carrawell was the point person for me. He is one of my favorite people. He has amazing energy and talks with me and treats me like his own. He played there and made Duke feel special."
And while Krzyzewski won't be part of the program when McCain gets to campus, McCain did get a chance to meet with the legendary coach.
"I did not think I was going to spend a lot of time with him," he said. "But he took a lot of time for me and my parents. He told how special Duke was and will be in the future."
McCain, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard from Centennial High School (California), is ranked No. 22 in the ESPN 60 for the 2023 class. He averaged 18.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and shot better than 40% from 3-point range with the Team Why Not program on the 16U Nike EYBL circuit last summer.
He is expected to play both on and off the ball for Duke. In the transition game, McCain can run to the arc and shoot it with consistency. He is effective playing in ball-screens, but can also spot up and shoot off a teammate's penetration. He has a quick and accurate shot. McCain is capable of using the dribble to create space and score, and is one of the best shooters in the 2023 class.
McCain, a social media sensation with more than one million TikTok followers, is Duke's third five-star commitment in the 2023 class, joining Sean Stewart and Caleb Foster. The Blue Devils are the only program in the country with more than one five-star 2023 commitment at this point in the recruiting cycle.
Scheyer and Duke are also coming off the top-ranked recruiting class in 2022, a group that featured three five-star recruits and five ESPN 100 prospects.
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