Duke Secures Five Star PG Derryck Thornton

 

Derryck Thornton now a Blue Devil. Photo credit: Reebok Classic

The Blue Devils got a commitment to a position in which they were desperate to fill.

By: Michael Hanley (@Magic20099)
Duke landed another highly touted player to add to their already impressive recruiting class that will be coming in this fall. He is Derryck Thornton, a five star prospect who hails from California and is regarded as one of , if not the best point guard of his entire class in the country. 

Thornton,the  6 foot 2, 175 pound point guard, has very high upside with his ability to play defense, smooth jump shot and ability to distribute the ball to his teammates, something every great point guard has the ability to do. He has all the tools to turn into another great, leading point guard under Coach K and the Duke program.

He will have quite the surrounding cast when he arrives on campus in Durham come fall. In addition to himself being committed, the Blue Devils are also bringing five star power forward Chase Jeter and five star shooting Luke Kennard in addition to the returning starters who were part of the national championship run last season.

Jon Scheyer, a Duke assistant coach, is being credited for being a big reason why Duke was able to land Thornton in this recruiting class. He was the main coach who has been on this point guard for quite  a longtime now. Thornton had an in home visit from Coach K and the entire staff  last night and the visit went great according to his father Tank Thornton (via 247Sports):

'It was all good. Coach K is a good man with a great staff,' Tank Thornton, father and longtime coach of Derryck Thornton said to Adam Rowe. 

Thronton's commitment now changes  things for him from the original plan he was following during his recruiting. He now has decided to reclassify and make his graduating year from 2015 instead of 2016.

This means he will now work to make sure he completes all the credits and classes that satisfy the prep school he is attending so he can put himself in position to first graduate from that prep school and then second, apply and be accepted into Duke University. If he is able to accomplish all of this, he should be eligible to play for the team come this fall.

The point guard position battle will be one that will be wide open and have no established player entrenched in the job come  preseason.

Thornton can easily earn a look as the starting point guard if he can get in the gym and be able to pick up what the Duke coaches want him to be able to do within the system they play under. 


What was a murky and unsettled position has gotten some clarity to it for the Blue Devils, who with this class should be able to be in the mix for an ACC Title and another deep run in the NCAA Tourney come next spring.