The Duke Blue Devils’ basketball program is preparing for the upcoming 2026-27 college basketball season. As we approach the new season, expectations are high for Jon Scheyer’s team once again.
Duke was ousted in the Elite Eight a year ago, blowing a 19-point lead to UConn, leading to another disappointing season. But as we sit here with a month until the new season, the Blue Devils are getting some work done on the recruiting trail.
The Blue Devils are welcoming in the top overall class for the 2026 cycle and the hope is that they can build on that and turn in another good one for 2027. Over the weekend, Duke hosted its annual “Countdown to Craziness” event, which gives fans and the media their first look at this new team. It also allowed Duke to use it as a recruiting weekend to get potential targets on campus.
The big recruit for Duke on campus is five-star small forward who made his official visit this past weekend. Many believed this would be a huge weekend for the Blue Devils in terms of making up some ground and leaving a good impression on the recruit. There was even thought of Duke potentially sealing the deal.
Now, on Sunday night, it looks like the Blue Devils made great progress as they have landed two crystal ball predictions for Montgomery on 247Sports. Both Duke beat writers John Watson and Chad Lykins, put in the crystal ball for Duke on Sunday.
While crystal balls don’t guarantee a commitment, it’s pretty close and gives some insight into where the experts believe things stand. So this is great news for the Blue Devils, especially when it comes after the visit this weekend. There has to be some intel on the visit that had both reporters put in the crystal ball prediction right away.
The 6-foot-7, 215-pound Montgomery hails from Georgia and is ranked No. 8 nationally, No. 3 small forward and the No. 2 player in the state of Georgia per the 247Sports composite rankings. He has 28 offers and has taken visits to LSU, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Florida, UConn, and Duke so far.
Montgomery has visits to Arizona and Louisville still scheduled.
For Duke, the Blue Devils have one commitment so far as Kager Knueppel committed over the Summer. Landing someone like Montgomery would be a good next piece for the Blue Devils.
