Recruiting: conversation with HS coach of St. John's target Trevon Duval

St. Benedict's Prep in New Jersey is recognized as one of the top high school basketball programs in the country, having produced top-flight prospects including Tyler Ennis, JR Smith, and current Knick forward, Lance Thomas.

Now the school and Coach Mark Taylor may have found their next gem in talented five-star guard in the class of 2017, Trevon Duval, a 6'3" point guard out of Delaware.

Duval might only be a rising junior, but he has already established himself as the one of the top players in the country. This past season at St. Benedict's, Duval averaged 15.9 points per game and led his team to a Prep A title. He has continued that success on the AAU circuit, recently leading his team at the Under Armour NBPA Top 100 Camp to the camp championship.

As a player, the Delaware native possesses all the tools to thrive at the next level. The junior has already drawn comparisons to NBA all star, Derrick Rose.

Mark Taylor, Duval's HS coach, expounds on his player's talent. "Trevon is a great all around player," Taylor said. "He has tremendous athleticism and a great feel for the game. Tre best strengths are his handle and ability to create space with his dribble. He can get to the paint and put tremendous pressure on defenses who have to adjust and help allowing Tre to find open players."

Duval's most awe-inspiring skill is his outstanding athleticism. One need not watch the guard for long to understand why he has been compared to Derrick Rose. Most scouts have known for some time that Duval has some of the best hops in his class, but that fact became common knowledge after his highlight show at the UA All American Camp.

At the camp, the high flying guard put on a show for those lucky enough to be in attendance including this unbelievable body-catcher slam.

While Duval has already demonstrated that he can play with the best players in the country, like any prospect he still must refine certain parts of his game.

Jump shooting and decision-making are still areas where the skilled neophyte must continue to develop. However, his coach is confident that with Duval's work ethic he will definitely ameliorate the weaker elements of his game.

"Trevon has many positives and has definitely limited the areas of his game that people could try to exploit," Mark Taylor said. "His shooting has greatly increased and he will need to continue to work on that to improve. Trevon has matured in his approach to working in practice. He has become much more focused in all aspects of the game and not just working on the things that he likes or is good at."

Duval, who is ranked 13th among ESPN's top prospects for the class of 2017, holds offers from some of the most highly regarded programs in the nation. UConn, Duke, Arizona, Syracuse, Kansas and Villanova are just some of the schools that have made the guard a priority in their 2017 recruiting class.

While St. John's has extended an offer to Duval, Coach Mullin has yet to contact Coach Taylor in regards to his nascent guard. One can only assume that after watching him play on the summer circuit, a call from the St. John's staff should be arriving in the near future.

Judging by the quality and quantity of offers he has received, it will be difficult the predict where the young guard is leaning to continue his career.

However, his coach believes that certain factors will stand out when the time comes to make a decision.

"Tre will want to be close to home if possible, where he can start and be impact to the team immediately, play at a school that will have a chance to win National Championship, and lastly a program that has proven to develop great NBA players," said coach Taylor.

In April, Duval told NJ Advance Media that he will transfer from St. Benedict's next season. Regardless if Duval decides to transfer, it will still be highly absorbing watching this electrifying prospect reach his potential.