Is Duke KU’s toughest competition for 5-star forward Matt Hurt?

By Matt Tait     Feb 27, 2019

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Kansas University basketball recruiting

Earlier this week, 247 Sports recruiting analyst Evan Daniels officially entered Duke as his Crystal Ball pick in the recruitment of 5-star prep forward Matt Hurt.

The Blue Devils are one of a handful of blueblood programs heavily pursuing Hurt — Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky join Minnesota in his final five — and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has been on some kind of roll in the recruiting game of late.

But Kansas has been on Hurt the longest and, according to other recruiting gurus, has positioned itself in as good of shape as possible to bring Hurt to the finish line in what would be the signature signing in the 2019 class for the Jayhawks.

Ranked in the top 10 pretty much throughout his recruitment, the 6-foot-9, versatile forward from Rochester, Minn., appears to be the perfect fit for the Jayhawks’ roster and the way KU coach Bill Self has started to run his offense.

Hurt would be much more than a stretch 4, but his ability to play on the perimeter and heat up from the outside would allow Kansas to spread the floor, opening up driving lanes for others and room in the paint for players like Udoka Azubuike, David McCormack and whatever other big bodies the Jayhawks may have on the roster next season.

“For Kansas, Hurt is exactly the player the program needs,” KUsports.com recruiting insider Matt Scott said ahead of Hurt’s official visit to Kansas earlier this month. “He can play with bigs or play small ball. He can play in transition or in the half court. He simply is a player that defenses have to pay attention to, which can create opportunities for his teammates. Matt Hurt is one of those players in a recruiting class that can instantly make a class great.”

It’s worth noting that even with Daniels making his prediction for Duke, it’s the Jayhawks that are still far and away leading the 247 Sports Crystal Ball race for Hurt, garnering 73 percent of the votes while Duke, Kentucky, in-state Minnesota and “other” are each getting about 7 percent.

“In terms of the Crystal Ball, it’s not by any means that he’s about to make his college choice because I don’t think that’s the case,” Daniels told 247 Sports’ Kevin Flaherty this week. “But Duke has put itself in a really good position. There are obviously some other really good schools in there, but I don’t know that I would trade (Duke’s) position for anyone right now.”

According to multiple reports, Hurt is not expected to be in any kind of rush to make a decision, choosing instead to wait as long as he can to see how the rosters at his final five change in the months ahead.

The spring signing period opens April 17 and it’s entirely possible that Hurt could go into April before making a decision.

As of today, the Jayhawks have two players signed in the 2019 class — 4-star guards Mackey McBride and Christian Braun — and remain in pursuit of a couple other highly ranked prospects in the 2019 class.

Most notable among them are: No. 16 prospect Precious Achiuwa (6-9, 215, Montverde, Fla.), who made an official visit to KU last weekend; No. 33 prospect Cassius Stanley (6-5, 185, Chatsworth, Calif.), who is down to KU, UCLA and Oregon and is expected to announce his decision on April 17; and No. 105 small forward Tristan Enaruna (6-7, 205, Mt. Pleasant, Utah), who Self recently watched play in Utah.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.