The nation’s number one recruiting class: An inside look at the DUWB freshmen

You’re probably thinking: Number one recruiting class? Wow, that’s awesome! Sure enough, it is, and it is also not unique.

Duke Women’s ball has had the number one recruiting class three years in a row. This year, however, they inked five play-makers that ranked within the top 60 players in the nation.

These players include lights-out three point shooters and play makers in transition, making up the most well-balanced and talented freshman class in division one basketball.

Here’s an inside look into the girls and their games.

Haley Gorecki

Number 2 on the court, but number one in your heart, we begin with the 43rd ranked prospect, Haley Gorecki.

Haley is not only an incredible player (her junior year averaging 22.6 ppg, while shooting 51 percent from the floor and 80 percent from the free throw line), but she has a mean taste for music (Luke Bryan being her favorite – a very good choice in my opinion) and is a fan of all things Chicago sports (specifically, the Bulls and the Blackhawks).

Her presence on the court is astonishing – she has a keen eye for passing lanes and is always looking to share the ball with a teammate. When she takes matters into her own hands she is as equally unstoppable, slamming down threes and laying floaters into the hoop.

She is never afraid or hesitant to move into traffic, and has incredible body control off of the bounce. Overall, she is a multi-faceted and talented guard who will make an early impact on this team.

Haley also has the unique capability of winning a game without dominating the score board. She is a prominent figure on defense, moving quickly and keeping every player in front of her.

Haley was Illinois’ Miss Basketball, the highest award given by each state’s high school basketball association, signifying that she was not only the best player in Illinois, but also intelligent and lives a life of integrity.

The best thing that anyone can say about Haley is that Coach P said as soon as she signed with Duke: “Duke is getting a fantastic player and an even better person.”

Everyone that meets Haley definitely agrees.

Crystal Primm

CP(1)3, Crystal Primm is the next on the docket. You might think, oh, I know of CP3! Well, I gotta say, Crystal’s nickname is very fitting if you see the way she plays. She’s a firecracker, catching quickly and cutting tightly off screens, and is quite a pull-up threat.

Recently she had a standout game in Cancún, versus Idaho, with 28 minutes of play, 13 points and six rebounds – and this is just the beginning.

Crystal anticipates very well under pressure and always attacks the rim uptempo. She and Kyra Lambert are quite a duo, working very well together on the floor and making an active effort to lead and direct the team, especially on offense.

Senior year at Oxbridge Academy, Primm was McDonald’s All-American nominee who averaged 21 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.

She helped build the program at her high school, which was led by her father Terry Primm, a former NBA player. She is a huge Clippers fan, and her favorite part of the game is getting stops defensively (she likes to score too, of course, and dang is she good at it).

The better Crystal gets the harder she works, and she will be someone to watch this season.

Kyra Lambert

The rookie point guard that already looks like a veteran, Kyra Lambert was the 9th rated prospect overall, and wears number 15 on the court.

Senior year at Clemens, Kyra averaged 25.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 2.7 assists. She was an All-American, and her jersey, No. 15, was retired by her high school following her senior year.

Kyra was, and still is, considered one of the best girls basketball players ever to come out of the San Antonio area. However, she was denied eligibility her Junior year (after transferring to Clemens for it’s IB program) to play on the Varsity team.

Being as honest and genuine as it gets, she volunteered to not only practice with the Varsity team to help make them better as a team, but also to play with JV and help them as well. Her coach said that, “Most kids of her age and talent level would never have made that decision. They would have seen playing JV as beneath them. But that’s not Kyra.”

She is a complete-package lead guard with outstanding ball handling (and very few turnovers) and has superb court awareness. She is excellent at reading passing lanes, and is most likely the speediest person on the team.

Kyra flies and is a threat from all sides, and Duke is very lucky to have her and her humility on the court every game.

Faith Suggs

Next up, #14 Faith Suggs, a strong Duke woman and a Chips Ahoy enthusiast (something you would not expect if you watch her agility and strength play out on the court). Faith hails from Illinois, like Haley.

Faith was the 25th top ranked player in HS basketball, having multiple all-State accolades including First-Team All-Conference for her entire HS career and being selected to participate multiple times in USA Basketball U17 World Championship team trials. She is also an academic All-American, maintaining a HS GPA of over 4.0.

Suggs received her first recruiting letter in eighth grade, and was focused on choosing a school that could best prepare her for her career in addition to preparing her for a successful college-basketball run. Faith ended up at Duke to get the best of both worlds, hoping to become a lawyer or a sports agent.

I, along with many people, see Faith as a versatile perimeter threat with a knack to exploit mismatches on the floor and take advantage of transition opportunities. She moves incredibly well, handling and attacking under control in transition game, passing with purpose, penetrating and distributing, and collapsing defenses.

Her basketball IQ caused many top programs to take notice, and her character on and off the court caused Duke to be the very lucky program to be her home for the next four years.

Angela Salvadores

Last but certainly not least, Angela Salvadores, considered one of the best point guard prospects in the world. Angela was named FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year, becoming the youngest ever to win the award. Rightfully so, of course, as her career with the Spanish national team included a 40-point outing against the US in the gold medal game in the 17U division last summer.

She was the MVP of the U17 World Championships in 2014 and played for the Spanish national team in 2013 and 2014.

Angela has very strong passing game (including quite a few trick passes up her sleeve). She is a superb open-floor distributor, and has court awareness unlike anything I have seen – she is not only aware of where she is on the floor but she knows where her teammates and defenders are.

She plays confidently always, bringing a scorer’s mentality with creativity in mid-range game. She is a threat from outside the arc, in the paint, and in transition, and has the ability to play almost complete games.

Angela is a one of a kind athletic talent of this generation, and I am very excited to watch her lead this team along with the rest of the freshman. She is fun-loving and intelligent, and both of these things show in her passion on the court.

Overall, these women are something special: catch them while you can. They are talented, passionate and fun and I have been honored to be able to live with them this semester.

Hope to see y’all at the games!!