WRAL Sports Fan

Duke

Duke men's basketball signs two Top-50 prospects

Nov 21, 2012

Durham, N.C. — The Duke men’s basketball team received national letters of intent from two top-50 prospects with the signing of shooting guard Matt Jones and small forward Semi Ojeleye, head coach Mike Krzyzewski announced on Wednesday.

“We are excited about the additions of Matt [Jones] and Semi [Ojeleye],” said Krzyzewski. “Both of them are very good shooters and skilled players that will fit into the Duke system and culture very well. They have bright futures in our program, and we look forward to watching them develop on and off the court."

Jones, a 6-4, 180-pound guard from DeSoto High School in DeSoto, Texas, is ranked as the No. 8 shooting guard in the country by ESPN, the No. 10 shooting guard by Rivals.com and No. 7 shooting guard by Scout.com. Overall, ESPN ranks him as the No. 36 overall prospect, Rivals.com ranks him 35th overall, and Scout.com ranks him 30th overall.

Jones plays for Texas powerhouse DeSoto, which enters the 2012-13 season ranked No. 2 in the Texas Coaches 5A Preseason Rankings. As a junior, Jones averaged 19.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. With Jones leading the way, DeSoto has strung together three consecutive 30-win seasons, including a 33-6 record in 2011-12 and an appearance in the Region 2 Final. Jones also played for the Texas Titans and averaged a team-high 17.0 points per game to lead the group to a 15-5 record in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League and qualify for the Nike Peach Jam. Jones is the younger brother of Jordan Jones, a McDonald’s All-American who is a freshman guard on the Texas A&M women’s basketball team.

Ojeleye, a 6-6, 220-pound product of Ottawa High School in Ottawa, Kansas, is ranked as the No. 10 small forward in the class of 2013 by ESPN and No. 8 at his position by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. Overall, he is the No. 41 prospect in ESPN’s ranking, No. 30 by Rivals.com and No. 25 by Scout.com.

With Ojeleye leading the way, Ottawa reached the Kansas 4A State Championship game last season and got 32 points from Ojeleye in a 56-52 loss to Basehor-Linwood. Ojeleye averaged 32.5 points per game as a junior while playing all five positions for Ottawa. Ojeleye also played for MoKan Elite, leading the team to the U17 Kansas City Classic title and an appearance in the semifinals of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball Peach Jam. Ojeleye’s older brother, Victor, played for Kansas State from 2008-12 and was a team captain.