Harry Giles is one of the most sought after prospects in the 2016 recruiting class. The 6-foot-10 power forward is currently in the process of making his official visits to the schools he is considering, and he seems to be getting closer to making a decision. Giles recently visited Kentucky, and now he is set to visit Duke over Halloween weekend. Giles never had a visit scheduled to UNC, but it was always a possibility he would set one up, now though he will not visit North Carolina, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, and that seemingly cuts his list down a little bit.
Giles has already visited Wake Forest, Kansas and now Kentucky, and Duke is expected to be his last official visit. Giles went to Kentucky's Big Blue Madness over the weekend and tweeted that he had a great time.
The Winston-Salem, N.C> native had his official list down to five, but with no official visit scheduled for UNC, it is likely down to four. Duke is the big time favorite to land Giles, according to 247 Sports, but it is not a foregone conclusion, based on what Giles' high school coach is saying.
"People think Duke is the leader, but I think from sitting in on parts of all of the visits, he told all the coaches he's not sure when he's going to sign and he's told everybody that he's wide open still. So he keeps it pretty close to the vest and he doesn't say much. I know they all want him to go early and I think he's probably leaning to doing that but he could even extend it. Who knows?" said Steve Smith, Giles' high school coach.
People in the know believe that Giles would prefer to stay close to home, and with UNC out, that would make it seem like all signs point to Duke. However, Kentucky made a good impression on his visit. Another thing Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils have going for them is the fact that they already have a commitment from Jayson Tatum, who is a close friend of Giles, and they have talked about teaming up in college.
Giles is a five-star recruit who is a consensus top-three player in his class. ESPN ranks him as the number one overall player in 2016, and he is expected to be the first overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. As of right now, Duke has the number two overall class in the nation for 2016 with Tatum, five-star point guard Frank Jackson and four-star forward Javin DeLaurier, but getting a commitment from Giles would push them to number one and make them very hard to pass. Giles doesn't have a timetable for a decision, but his visit to Durham on Halloween weekend will be one to watch for college basketball fans.
