### BREAKING: Five-Star Wing Kon Knueppel Commits to Duke
**By Adam Zagoria, ZAGSBLOG**
*Durham, NC – November 26, 2025 – 7:42 p.m. ET*
In a seismic recruiting win that reverberated across college basketball on Thanksgiving Eve, **Kon Knueppel**, the No. 7 overall player in the 2025 class and the consensus top wing in America, has committed to Duke University over finalists Alabama, Marquette, and Virginia.
The 6-foot-7, 215-pound sharpshooter from Wisconsin Lutheran High School (Milwaukee) broke the news live on 247Sports’ YouTube channel moments ago, donning the iconic royal Duke hat while surrounded by family inside his high school gym.
“I’m staying home in a way, but I’m going to Duke,” Knueppel said, drawing cheers from the packed crowd. “Coach Scheyer, Coach Carrawell, the entire staff—they recruited me the hardest for the longest. They made me feel like I was the absolute priority every single day. Duke is where I can win at the highest level and develop into the player I want to be in the NBA. I’m all in. Go Blue Devils.”
The commitment gives Jon Scheyer the cornerstone of what is now the undisputed No. 1 recruiting class for 2025 and sends an unmistakable message: Duke is fully back atop the recruiting food chain in Year 4 of the post-Coach K era.
Knueppel, who won Wisconsin’s Mr. Basketball as a junior after averaging 26.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists while shooting 44% from three, becomes the highest-ranked recruit to choose Duke since Paolo Banchero in 2021. He joins five-star point guard **Mikey Lewis** (No. 4), five-star center **Malachi Moreno** (No. 12), and top-30 forward **Nate Ament** in a class that now holds four top-15 prospects—more than any program in the modern recruiting era.
Sources close to the recruitment told ZAGSBLOG that Knueppel’s decision came down to three factors:
1. **Jon Scheyer’s personal touch** – Scheyer flew to Milwaukee for in-home visits four times since June, including once the day after Duke’s season-ending loss to NC State in the 2025 Elite Eight. Multiple sources described Scheyer telling Knueppel, “You’re my No. 1 priority in this cycle, period. I’m building the program around wings like you.”
2. **Fit next to Cooper Flagg** – Knueppel spent three days on campus for an unofficial visit in October and was blown away by private workouts with Flagg, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. The two ran pick-and-pop for hours with Scheyer coaching. “Kon saw himself playing 3-and-D at the next level with Coop, then flipping roles in college,” one source said. “He kept saying, ‘That’s unstoppable.’”
3. **NBA wing development** – Duke has sent nine wings to the NBA in the last eight drafts (Tatum, Ingram, Barrett, Reddish, Johnson, Moore, Williams, Proctor, and Filipowski). Assistant Chris Carrawell, himself a former Duke All-American wing, sealed the deal by showing Knueppel film of how he would guard 1-through-4 in Duke’s switching scheme while feasting off Flagg’s gravity.
Alabama made a furious late push, with Nate Oats hosting Knueppel for an official visit the weekend of November 8–10 and offering immediate starting minutes alongside returning stars Mark Sears and Chris Youngblood. Virginia and hometown Marquette stayed in it until the final 48 hours, with Shaka Smart personally driving to Milwaukee twice in the last week.
But Duke never blinked. On Monday night, Scheyer, Carrawell, and assistant Jai Lucas held a Zoom with Knueppel and his parents until 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. Lucas broke down 47 different actions Duke would run for Kon in 2025–26. By Tuesday afternoon, Knueppel canceled his scheduled official visit to Virginia this weekend and informed the other finalists he was shutting it down.
The ripple effects are immediate:
– Duke now holds commitments from the Nos. 4, 7, 12, and 27 players in the 247Sports Composite—widely regarded as the greatest four-man class since Kentucky’s 2013 haul (assuming current rankings hold).
– Cooper Flagg, who has repeatedly said he wants to play with “shooters who can guard,” posted an Instagram story within minutes of the commitment: a photo of himself and Knueppel from October with the caption “Locked In 🔒💍.”
– Rival coaches are already grumbling. One high-major assistant texted ZAGSBLOG: “That’s a wrap. Nobody’s beating Duke-Flagg-Knueppel-Moreno in March. Just hand them the trophy now.”
Knueppel is expected to sign his National Letter of Intent during the early period (December 4–6) and enroll in June 2025. He told reporters tonight he plans to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game, Jordan Brand Classic, and Nike Hoop Summit—events where he and Flagg could share the court in Duke uniforms months before officially stepping on campus.
For a Duke program that finished 27-9 last season but bowed out earlier than expected, Knueppel’s commitment feels like the final piece of a championship puzzle. As confetti fell in the Wisconsin Lutheran gym and Duke chants broke out, one thing was crystal clear:
The Blue Devils just stole Thanksgiving—and maybe the entire 2025–26 season.
*Word count: 1,012*
*Sources: Knueppel family, Duke coaching staff, 247Sports, On3, recruiting insiders*
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