We are in a slight lull of the basketball season with exam week and nearing Christmas break. With that being said, there is a big matchup with a wounded Texas Tech team at Madison Square Garden in just one week. While we wait for that matchup, lets take a look at the Duke recruiting news of late.
Duke Basketball Recruiting Update
Current 2026 Commits
Duke has locked in three recruits in the 2026 class to this point. The prize possession of the 3 is Cameron Williams. He is a long, athletic forward with sky-high potential. Williams comes in as the current 4th ranked recruit in the nation via 247 Sports. Currently, he is a rim running big that is rapidly growing his game. He is a phenomenal rim-protector and can switch one through five with relative ease. Williams upside comes on the offensive end where he shows a nice handle for a big and the mechanics to be an average to good shooter. His athleticism is going to make him very tough to handle for the opposition.
Along with Williams comes Bryson Howard. The son of Josh Howard rapidly ascended the ranks during his senior season. Howard is a knock down lefty with rim-rocking ability. He is incredibly young and his quick progress this season is promising for his future. Howard will be a young 18 when he steps on campus in the summer and having NBA DNA plus receiving coaching from Duke’s staff means his ceiling could not be higher.
Lastly, is Maxime Meyer. He is a project big from IMG Academy that has slowly shown improvement over his young career. Meyer likely will see limited action as a freshman but the Blue Devil staff will hope he continues to trend upward. Meyer is great at positional rebounding and gets his hands on a ton on the defensive end. He is agile but skill-wise is limited on the offensive end at this point.
Current 2026 Targets
There are two huge names left on the board for this Blue Devil staff. First, the Belle of the Ball is Jordan Smith Jr. He is the number two ranked player in the class and out of Paul VI which has been quite the pipeline for Duke. The Blue Devils have long been favored to land Smith and still are but Arkansas is pushing hard. Trevor Keels attempted to ease the minds of fans by saying Smith was a lock for Duke. However, until pen hits paper, nothing is official.
Smitty a lock
— Keel Mode (@TrevorKeels) November 14, 2025
With Smith comes another backcourt target in Deron Rippey Jr. He is an explosive guard ranked 16th in the class. Rippey has fans all over the country but it seems that he is down to Duke, Tennessee, and NC State. Some recruiting folks feel he has already secretly committed to the NC State Wolfpack and Coach Will Wade. However, Duke would love to add him given the likely exit of Caleb Foster and no remaining combo guards on the roster outside of Cayden Boozer.
Lastly, Duke has some possible interest in Miikka Muurinen, a Finnish forward playing in Serbia. He was previously in the 2025 class but opted to play overseas for a year. Duke was heavily involved prior to his professional season. Now, they appear less involved but it is hard to know where international prospects stand at times. Arkansas seems most likely here.
Next Steps
Everyone expects Rippey to commitment before 2026 begins which leaves about 2.5 weeks to go. Right now, Duke is certainly not the favorite, but you know the saying: “always be closing.” Smith is quite the opposite. His recruitment appears to be heading deep into 2026. Duke will remain the favorites there and the expectation will always be that he is a Blue Devil next season. Realistically, these appear to be the last two main decisions that Duke is waiting on.
© Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images
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