Photo courtesy of Under Armour Basketball/Kelly Kline.
By David Cordova
The position of a point guard is one that is held in high regard. A point guard is a leader on the court, one that controls the movement of his teammates and the opposition by the way he controls the ball and the way he dictates the tempo of the game. In the high school game, there is only one that can do just that and more.
The player in question is none other than Trevon Duval, rated the No. 3 prospect in the Class of 2017 by Scout.com, who is also regarded by many as the No. 1 point guard in his class. The 6-foot-3 guard has a spectacular crossover dribble and great ball handling skills and has plenty of explosion in his step as he powers to the rim for dunks.
“What makes me want to be successful is just getting better every day, I just want to be the best player that I can be.” Duval says.
What makes Duval’s game so special is that his style of play is reminiscent of a New York City type of guard. The funny thing about it is, he’s actually from there. “Not a lot of people know that.” he says, “I was born in Queens and I have family from Brooklyn & Queens, so I’m really a New York kid.” Duval later moved to New Castle, Delaware, where he & his family reside these days.
As far as what the basketball scene is like in Delaware: “It can get to be one of the best climates, when there’s top players & top talent there. The whole state comes out to support.”
Duval started out high school at national powerhouse St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, NJ, which is also the alma mater of NBA players such as J.R. Smith (Cleveland Cavaliers) & Tyler Ennis (Houston Rockets). In his time there, Duval became one of the best players in the state of North Jersey and the entire Northeast. While at St. Benedict’s, he led the Gray Bees to a record of 53-14 and a New Jersey State Prep championship in his sophomore year.
Also, in between his freshman and sophomore year of high school, he was a part of a loaded backcourt featuring Kentucky sophomore Isaiah Briscoe and incoming Seton Hall freshman Myles Powell that led the New Jersey Playaz program to the Nike EYBL title in the summer of 2014.
For his junior year, Duval ended up at Advanced Prep International in Dallas, Texas, which featured another loaded team full of prospects from around the country such as senior Billy Preston, now at Oak Hill Academy, and college players such as Stevie Jordan II (Rider University), Mark Vital (Baylor University) and a five-star in Terrance “2K” Ferguson, who is now playing professionally in Australia.
API, as the school is commonly referred to, went 34-7 through the 2015-16 season, finishing as the No. 24 team in the USA Today poll and played in a host of national tournaments. On his junior year, Duval said, “My junior year was a success, I did well on the high school level and for my last summer, I did pretty well.”
After winning the Nike EYBL title with the Playaz, he moved on to Under Armour Association and played with WE R 1, and became one of the circuit’s biggest players in the last two years. This summer, Duval averaged 16.1 points, 5.2 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game, while leading WE R 1 to a Under Armour Association 17U title, making him the first player to win AAU titles on two different circuits.
He also made appearances at events such as the Pangos All-American Camp, the Nike Basketball Academy, Adidas Nations, and also, the Under Armour Elite 24, for the second straight year, in which he scored 25 points and also was engaged in a battle against another guard from New York, Harlem’s own Isaiah Washington. For their performances, both players won MVP awards. On his experience at Elite 24, Duval had this to say, “It was fun, I had a lot of fun last year and this year, it was even better, I had a lot more fun.”
Back in April, the NCAA investigated API and ruled that no college that recruited any of their players could accept credits from that school because it was an unaccredited institution, which meant that Duval had to transfer once again. On September 11th, Duval and his family announced that he would attend IMG Academy, a top-flight program in Bradenton, Florida, that specializes in athletics and academics.
As for his collegiate recruitment, on September 5th, he announced his final list of nine schools that he is still choosing from, such as: Maryland, St. John’s, California, Seton Hall, Arizona, Villanova, Oregon and Southern California.
When asked how he he feels about being ranked as the No. 1 point guard in the country, his views were: “It’s a blessing, it shows you that hard work pays off and that I just need to keep on working.”
Now that he’s made his mark on the AAU circuit and found his new destination for high school, his new mission is to continue to get better and to get ready for college. Whichever of the nine schools that he decides to choose will be getting a throughbred of a player and one that will continue to ascend as far as his level of play takes him. In a couple of years, Duval will probably be shaking Adam Silver’s hand on draft night at the podium. But right now, his main focus is to finish high school.
Highlights of Trevon Duval:
Courtesy of Home Team Hoops.
Courtesy of Ballislife South.
Courtesy of Hoop Diamonds.
Courtesy of Home Team Hoops.
Courtesy of Elite Mixtapes.
Courtesy of BallasTVDotCom.
Courtesy of The Basketball Diary.
Courtesy of Rivals.com
Courtesy of The Basketball Diary.
Courtesy of 8Eye Media.
Courtesy of Courtside Films.
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