Is Khaman Maluach the next Thon Maker, or the next Joel Embiid? Either way, Duke basketball fans may want to begin familiarizing themselves with the name right now, because the 7-foot-2 South Sudanese center may soon be calling Cameron Indoor Stadium home. And even sooner now that the five-star, 17-year-old recruit has reclassified, and is now eligible to play in college next fall, according to ESPN's Jonathan Givony.

Duke is among a number of programs that are interested in Maluach, including Kansas, Kentucky, Baylor, and UCLA. In addition, Maluach is also weighing the option of going to the “G League Ignite and the NBL Next Stars program, as well as staying with the NBA Academy Africa and becoming the first player ever to be drafted directly from Africa,” per Givony.

So with all of those potential options, including the NBA Draft, why are the Blue Devils the favorite to land Khaman Maluach at the moment?

If you've heard Khaman Maluach's name before, it was probably this past fall when Maluach became the third youngest player to ever compete in the FIBA World Cup. And who was his coach on the South Sudanese national team? Former Duke Blue Devil and Sudan native Luol Deng. Deng came to Duke as the #2 player in the 2003 recruiting class — I'll give you one guess who #1 was — and played one year at Duke in 2003-04, where he was a member of the third-team All-ACC as a freshman. From there, Luol Deng entered the NBA Draft and was selected 7th overall by the Chicago Bulls.

Whether or not Luol Deng can tip the scales in Duke's favor remains to be seen, but it's fair to assume that traditional powerhouse programs like Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Baylor and UCLA are always going to be in the mix for every notable recruit, no matter where it is they're coming from. Before reclassifying, Maluach was the #10 prospect in the 2025 class, according to On3, so to say he is prized is an understatement.