Duke picked up its first dedication from the Class of 2026 on Tuesday, when five-star wing Bryson Howard introduced his pledge to the Blue Devils stay on the CBS Sports activities School Basketball Youtube Channel. Howard picked Duke over North Carolina and Kentucky following a whirlwind dedication that accelerated dramatically in latest months.
The highest-ranked prospect from the state of Texas was unranked till exploding on the grassroots circuit following his junior season at Heritage Excessive Faculty in Frisco, Texas. Howard’s first huge leap carried him to No. 29 within the prospect rankings earlier than he reached five-star standing along with his newest leap to No. 12 general.
Howard comes from a robust pedigree, as his father, Josh Howard, performed 10 years within the NBA after a storied four-year profession at Wake Forest. The elder Howard was the ACC Participant of the 12 months in 2003 and an NBA All-Star in 2007 whereas taking part in for the Dallas Mavericks.
Right here is the breakdown of Bryson Howard’s sport from 247Sports director of scouting Adam Finkelstein:
He assaults the rim in straight strains, getting downhill and absorbing contact with a bodily fashion. He rises as much as end above the rim and is a lob risk. He additionally has a translatable capturing stroke and has even proven some flashes of having the ability to make motion pictures (45% 3pt, 75% FT), which may be very uncommon for somebody so younger (will not flip 18 till following his highschool commencement) and with such lengthy arms (6-foot-11 wingspan).
Along with his size and physicality, Howard additionally has a naturally robust body that’s solely going to proceed to fill-out. Defensively, he is engaged, excels along with his court docket protection, and has good playmaking metrics (2 steals and 0.9 steals). There’s nonetheless room for him to scrub up a few of his angles, however he has a world of potential, each on and off the ball. Offensively, he might take his sport to new ranges by growing his proper hand and decision-making, significantly when he is in assault mode (1.5 assists vs. 1.9 turnovers).
Howard averaged 17.1 factors and 10.2 rebounds per sport in 37 video games throughout his junior season of highschool. Houston, Texas and Tennessee have been additionally concerned in Howard recruitment earlier than he narrowed his checklist of finalists to 3.
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