12 Harry  GILES (USA)
12/11/2015
David Hein's Eye on the Future
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Duke’s USA connection continues with Giles commitment

REGENSBURG (David Hein’s Eye on the Future) - Harry Giles could have chosen any college in the United States. But the superstar power forward decided to join a fellow two-time FIBA youth world champion and continue the United States national team legacy at Duke University.

Giles is the bouncy, versatile 2.08m talent who helped the United States to the title at the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship. The Winston-Salem native was playing two years younger than the rest of the competition, but he was named to the All-Tournament Team averaging 14 points and 10.6 rebounds. 

That came after he averaged 23 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assist and 2 blocks a game as a junior at Wesleyan Christian Academy. Giles moved to Oak Hill Academy and was ready to confirm his status as the number one talent in his class for his senior season. 

Then in the opening minutes of his first game for Oak Hill, he partially tore the ACL of his right knee. Giles is expected to miss the rest of the season but he is expected to recover well. 

The knee injury is not as bad as the one to his other knee as he tore multiple ligaments in his left knee playing for the United States at the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship - which cost him his entire 2013-14 season.

A day after it was clear he would miss his senior year at Oak Hill, Giles made his announcement - on national U.S. television, telling a live audience that he had chosen Duke over the likes of Kentucky, Wake Forest and Kansas. 

"I felt like Duke was the place for me," Harry Giles to ESPN about choosing Duke 

"Every time I go to Duke it feels like home. Every time I sit down and talk to Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) it’s a special feeling. Every time we talk, it's always the same feeling, it feels great,” Giles told ESPN.

It’s unclear how much the current injury will hurt Giles’ draft stock since it occurred to his other knee. It’s still too early to really tell since he came back with such great athleticism and explosion from the first knee injury. 

NBA Draft experts Draftexpress currently have Giles at number two in its 2017 NBA Mock Draft. 

Number one on that list is Giles’ past and future teammate Jayson Tatum

Unlike Giles, Tatum did not wait long to announce that he would be attending Duke, committing to the Blue Devils in mid-July. That was shortly after he teamed with Giles to win the U19 Worlds title.

Once Tatum chose Duke over Kentucky, North Carolina and his hometown Saint Louis, chances were high that Coach K would land Giles as well. 

Tatum and Giles roomed together at the U19 Worlds and they had spent the previous two summers together with the U.S.A. youth national teams, taking the crown at the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship (where Giles got hurt) and then winning the Americans’ third straight undefeated FIBA U17 World Championship in 2014. 

“We were roommates in USA Basketball this past season,” Tatum has told ESPN. “When you spend over 30 days together, you either grow closer or apart. We got closer.”

Having the legendary Coach K as your to-be coach didn’t hurt the situation either. 

Giles and Tatum are both eligible to play at the 2017 FIBA U19 World Championship but don’t expect either to line up with USA on their chests for a fourth time in five summers as they will likely be concentrating on preparations for the 2017 NBA Draft after being one-and-dones with the Blue Devils. 

That might come after Giles and Tatum team up for another title - namely the 2017 NCAA crown. In addition to Giles and Tatum, the 2016-17 Duke in-coming freshman class also features five-star point guard Frank Jackson as well as four-star power forward Javin DeLaurier. Jackson is a top-15 ranked player in the class while DeLaurier is in the top 50 in the U.S. 

High school stars joining forces at Duke after a successful run with the U.S. national team is nothing new. Coach K just saw a trio of superstars leave after one season at Duke after collecting hardware with USA on their chest. 

The former trio of Blue Devils freshmen Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow have moved onto the NBA after winning the 2015 NCAA trophy. 

Okafor and Winslow were teammates on the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship and 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship-title winning teams while Jones also played at the 2012 U17 Worlds. 

That trio used the bond they developed with the United States team to bring Duke an NCAA title. Giles and Tatum might just do the same in 2017.

David Hein

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.

David Hein

David Hein

Walk into the media tribune of any major basketball event and there's a good chance you will come across David Hein. Having covered dozens of FIBA events, including numerous women's and youth events, there are few players Dave doesn't know about, and few players who don't know him. His sporting curiosity means he is always looking to unearth something new and a little bit special. David Hein's Eye on the Future is a weekly column digging out the freshest basketball talent worldwide and assessing what the basketball landscape will look like a couple of years down the line.