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Top College Basketball Recruit Sends Strong Message After Visit With Duke

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Robert Marvi | Last updated Jun 2, 2025 11:09 PM ET

After failing to win the men's NCAA championship this past season, as many expected them to, the Duke Blue Devils will look considerably different when they start the 2025-26 season.

They're losing star forward Cooper Flagg, big man Khaman Maluach and sharpshooter Kon Knueppel, among others, to the NBA draft. But they have gotten a commitment from highly sought-after foreign prospect Dame Sarr, a guard from Italy, while Cameron Boozer, a top recruit in the class of 2025, has signed with them.

Christian Collins is one of the top high school recruits in the class of 2026. He reportedly visited with Duke in his home, and he had some nice things to say about the program and its coaching staff.

"Duke was great," Collins said. "They met my mom and auntie and we all talked… Jon Scheyer is a great coach… if he wants you — I was talking to Man Man… he said to me ‘If he want you, he’s going to get you.’… Coach Scheyer, he’s a great coach… Same thing with Coach Carrawell… So it’s good."

(Duke target in class of 2026 on a recent in-home visit)

️ “Duke was great. They met my mom and auntie and we all talked… Jon Scheyer is a great coach… if he wants you — I was talking to Man Man… he said to me ‘If he want you, he’s going to… pic.twitter.com/1hpUYWKwnY
— Blue Devil Voices (@DukeEchoes) June 1, 2025

Collins is a 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward who is from the greater Los Angeles area. According to 247 Sports, he's a five-star recruit and has gotten offers from some other prominent basketball schools, including Arizona, Arizona State, Alabama, Kentucky, Villanova, UCLA and UC Berkeley.

He would be a big get for a Duke program that is looking for its first national championship since 2015.

With Flagg, who is almost certainly going to be the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft and a future star, leading the way, Duke looked like a powerhouse this past season. But after relatively easy wins in the first four rounds of the tournament, it blew a double-digit lead in the second half of its Final Four contest and lost to Houston.

Still, there is no doubt that Scheyer is building an attractive program three years after the legendary Mike Krzyzewski retired.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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