Duke men’s basketball head coach Jon Scheyer officially announced the addition of Khaman Maluach to the Blue Devils’ 2024 recruiting class on Wednesday. Maluach initially committed on March 6.
Maluach, a 7-foot-2, 250-pound center from the NBA Academy Africa in Senegal, is a five-star recruit ranked as the third overall prospect and top center by 247Sports. He is the fifth future Blue Devil positioned in the top 20 by 247Sports.
He joins the No. 1 recruiting class in 2024, led by Cooper Flagg, just as seven players are transferring out. Duke is also bringing in Maliq Brown (Syracuse) and Mason Gillis (Purdue).
Maluach aided his native country of South Sudan in qualifying for this summer’s Paris Olympics. He was named MVP of the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa camp last summer, selected playoff and defensive MVP at the BWB Global camp in February, and participated in the Nike Hoop Summit in April.
“I am really excited to welcome Khaman Maluach to Duke,” said Scheyer. “Joining us from South Sudan and NBA Academy Africa, Khaman brings an incredible perspective and unique talents to our program. At 7’2”, Khaman can score inside and out, handle the ball, and protect the rim at a high level. His vocal leadership, the energy and enthusiasm that he plays with, and his commitment to winning above individual statistics stood out to me when watching him throughout the recruiting process. We are anxious to get to work with Khaman after he competes in the Olympics this summer with Luol Deng and the South Sudanese National Team.”
Projected 2025 NBA Draft picks for @DukeMBB per @DraftExpress :
No. 1 – Cooper Flagg
No. 3 – Khaman Maluach
No. 13 – Isaiah Evans
No. 30 – Tyrese Proctor
No. 41 – Caleb Foster
No. 56 – Mark Mitchell https://t.co/gtIgpok0py— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 6, 2024
Although only playing basketball for the past five years, Maluach’s 7-foot-5 wingspan and 9-foot-8 standing reach, along with the mentorship of Deng, a former Duke player, NBA All-Star and South Sudan Basketball Federation president, has helped the 17-year-old make rapid improvement since joining the NBA Academy Africa in 2021.
Maluach, who originally committed to Duke on March 6, joins fellow future Blue Devils and five-star Flagg (6-9, F, Newport, Maine/Montverde Academy), Isaiah Evans (6-6, G/F, Huntersville, N.C./North Mecklenburg HS), Kon Knueppel (6-6, G/F, Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran HS) and Patrick Ngongba II (6-11, C, Fairfax, Va./Paul VI Catholic), and four-star recruit Darren Harris (6-6, G/F, Fairfax, Va./Paul VI Catholic).
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