As the transfer portal cycle draws to a close, Jordan Smith, the top shooting guard and #4 overall talent in the 2026 247Sports Composite Rankings class, is starting to feel the heat of his collegiate recruiting process. According to Smith, among of the universities that are actively recruiting him include Duke, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Georgetown, and Syracuse.
Prior to the start of the 2024–25 college basketball season, Smith made his second official visit to Durham, after Louisville, back in November.
In a recent interview with 247Sports insider Dushawn London, the star guard expressed his admiration for the Blue Devils’ program and discussed which programs had the most difficulty in recruiting him. He said the following about Duke.
“I really like Duke and how they’re changing the program around,” Smith stated. “Whenever I went up to see the coaches, they always made me feel like family. It was a lot of fun. When I saw my colleagues, we had a positive atmosphere.
Smith attends Paul VI Catholic (VA), the same high school which Patrick Ngongba II and Darren Harris, two current Blue Devils, attended. Jeremy Roach and Trevor Keels, two former Blue Devils, both attended Paul VI, therefore Duke has a pipeline to this high school.
Smith now has offers from 19 institutions; Darian DeVries and Indiana were the most recent to extend an offer to the top recruit.
Given how youthful Duke’s backcourt will be the following season, Smith will be an intriguing addition to watch in the 2026 class. With Darren Harris (sophomore) and Cayden Boozer (freshman) coming off the bench, Caleb Foster (junior) and Isaiah Evans (sophomore) would be the perfect starting backcourt tandem for the 2025–26 Blue Devils. There may be some interesting summer considerations about the return or departure of some of these guards if they all contribute significantly to the Blue Devils’ campaign the following year.
Evans’ return to Durham for the next season is currently uncertain. Evans put his name on the 2025 NBA Draft early entry list and will attend the NBA Draft Combine, even though he said he will return to Duke for a second year. Cedric Coward, one of the best shooting guards in the portal, was also acquired by the Blue Devils, although it’s likely that he will join the NBA.
If the coaching staff doesn’t recruit any more backcourt players through the portal, there may be a lot of uncertainty around the Blue Devils’ roster going into the upcoming season if Jon Scheyer loses both Evans and Coward to the NBA.
