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UPDATE 2
It’s official. Mackenzie Mgbako has committed to the Duke Blue Devils.
— Mackenzie Mgbako (@MackenzieMgbako) April 9, 2022
On to the next one.
UPDATE
Mackenzie Mgbako will announce his college choice on Friday, April 8th at 9 pm ET.
Committing Friday 9pm EST… Stay tuned
— Mackenzie Mgbako (@MackenzieMgbako) April 6, 2022
Every new recruiting prediction logged this week at Rivals and 247 Sports has been in favor of the Duke Blue Devils, as they look like the heavy favorite to come away victorious on Friday.
While the Kentucky Wildcats have become a powerhouse for top-tier transfers, they’ve also kept their title as one of the best recruiting programs in the nation.
With a pair of top-10 recruits from the 2022 class set to join the Cats, the 2023 class for Kentucky thus far has just one pledge from 5-star guard Reed Sheppard.
Now, fellow 5-star recruit Mackenzie Mgbako has included Kentucky in his final four. Ohio State, Duke and Memphis were also among Mgbako’s final choices, per On3 Recruits.
Mgbako is the No. 1 small forward in the class and the No. 3 overall player. He stands 6-foot-8 and is playing his final year of high school basketball at Gill St. Bernard’s School.
During his junior season, Mgbako averaged 19.5 points per game. He is a competent three-point shooter as well. Combine his size and shooting, and Mgbako has the potential to be one of the best collegiate players in recent history.
Mgbako added that he is nearing a college decision, which could come as early as sometime in the next week. He also offered up these thoughts on Kentucky:
“Coach Cal is an amazing coach. He likes to push it in transition. They have a young team with a few vets so that’s really nice. Just watching how they play basketball, offensively and defensively, is great. Coach (Orlando) Antigua is the one recruiting me, so he’s been recruiting me really hard, and we’ve built a great repertoire with each other and a good relationship.”
Mgbako could join fellow New Jersey product DJ Wagner, the top-ranked player in the nation, in Lexington. That is, if Wagner opts to commit to Kentucky. The crystal ball for 247 Sports seems to think Kentucky has a strong chance to land Wagner, whereas Mgbako has all Duke predictions at 247 and Rivals.