Surrounding the Chris Egi sweepstakes, speculation started to surface since this realGM article. Peter Chalach qouted the class of 2015 6’9 F/C Chris Egi as saying “If I could pick any school in the world, it would probably be Duke. That would be a dream come true.” Who wouldnt want to play for head coach Mike Krzyzewski? A hall of fame head coach at Duke and of several USA men’s national teams.

On Tuesday afternoon a source close to Egi’s camp told Hoops Hype Canada (HHC) that Coach K would be paying a visit to Montverde Academy down in Florida. “Duke is visiting him as in Coach K”  the source summarized. An American College Basketball Insider, who asked to be kept annonymous when reached by email replied “Coach K is actually going to Montverde to see Ben Simmons. That’s the priority – from what I have been told.” According to NCAA rules, this is the month where coaches can make at home visits to players, “Coaches are allowed out starting the 9th of the month.” Insider verified via email.

Canadian Hoops Analyst Mark Bairos when reached by telephone told Hoops Hype Canada (HHC) “Egi’s not visiting Duke, Coach K is visiting Egi.” When Bairos was notified that multiple sources south of the border reported Ben Simmons was the reason for Coach K’s visit he reiterated “I was told he was visiting just to see Chris. Duke needs post depth beyond the 2014-2015 season”.

Hoops Hype Canada late Tuesday afternoon spoke with Montverde Academy Assistant Coach Rae Miller via telephone. Miller is one of the countless people on campus who assist families and student athletes with positive mentorship, discipline, and guidance as they pursue their individual dreams during tenures at Montverde.

Coach Miller offered  “I wouldnt go to the extent that Coach K is visiting just for Chris, we’ve had players like Kyrie Irving, if you asked me if he is visiting to watch our team practice, which nothing has been set yet, that is probably true…we have pretty much a roster full of all extremely gifted and exciting players who will generate strong interest.” 

Montverde Academy head coach Kevin Boyle this summer re-stocked the roster with top caliber transfers like Ahmaad Rorie (California verbal commitment), our Canadian import Chris Egi and Makinde London. They join star holdovers D’Angelo Russell (Ohio State) and Ben Simmons to give the program a nucleus capable of contending for another national title.

Coached by Kevin Boyle, Montverde are the reigning ESPN NHSI champion. Coach Boyle has coached a number of great NBA players including #1 pick Kyrie Irving and #2 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.  Boyle was recently quoted saying that Simmons was the best player in the world at 18 and under.  When asked how hard is it to stay focused and live up to the hype, Simmons told Tyler Mounce “I think that Coach Boyle was being very generous with his comments – there are lots of good players in the US. I just want to be the best I can be, get really strong and work hard on my game. I’m a pretty relaxed person and I just want to be able to stay that way and always be ready and focused when I play. That’s all I can really do.”

Ben Simmons the Montverde junior received lots of global attention for his basketball abilities over the last few years, so much so that some thought he was a NBA prospect for last June’s draft. There is little doubt that “Big Ben,” a native of Melbourne, Australia, deserves his top ranked international high school status. Even before applying to MVA in his sophomore year, Ben was considered by several national media outlets as one of the preeminent college prospects from the class of 2015. The lefty shooter has an excellent ceiling that shines off of his athleticism, combined with his shooting touch, makes him one of the top prospects in the world.  Simmons is a likely one and done, lottery pick.

As for Canadian Chris Egi at only 16 years of age he’s still at an early stage of his development. Egi enjoyed break out performances this summer at the FIBA U19 Championships playing against competition 2 years older then him, then followed it up with a great showing at the Nike Global Games in D.C. A summer that saw Egi cement his stock as a high major talent. “always the hardest working guy in the gym every time I see him… working his tail off, always around the ball and those traits make him a excellent rebounder.” Bairos added about the 6’9 Canadian’s playing style.

“Moving from Toronto to Montverde Academy in Florida offers Chris the highest level of competition every day in practice compared to what he was seeing in Toronto. Tossing it up with talented teammates and playing as competitive of a schedule you’ll find is fantastic for him and his family” Bairos expressed. With the hiring of a top prep hoops coach in Kevin Boyle and the construction of a $6.5 million athletic facility, tiny Montverde Academy on the outskirts of Orlando is an elite basketball program that practically ensures kids like Simmons & Egi a college scholarship, and perhaps even a pro career. Montverde is a quality academic program with quality athletic programs, get your popcorn ready, the Chris Egi sweepstakes have just begun!!!

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Reports out of Durham, North Carolina speculated that Duke had been cut from Chris Egi’s list. When Coach Miller was asked to verify or confirm if the Canadian big men had allready begun trimming schools from his list, Coach Miller let it be known “All schools are on the list at this point” Despite Egi’s list headlined by main stray top 20 programs such as Duke & Florida when Egi was reached on campus by Canadian press regarding scheduled official visits, Egi released dates as followed.

Harvard September 26-29
Vanderbilt October 3-6
Stanford October 17-19
Washington October 19-21

Asked about his reclassification status, and Egi responded “I want to wait untill later to officially decide.” Also about getting acclimated “Coach has been great, just staying on me all the time and making sure I play the game at a high level both physically and mentally. He’s been working on expanding my offensive game” Egi also expalined some personal expectations this fall playing with the Florida based program, “I want to be the defensive backbone of the team with my communication and versatility in that I can guard multiple positions…On offense, I see myself scoring in transition, attacking the glass, passing well and playing out the ball screen.”