The Peach Invitational Tournament gives Nike EYBL teams that didn’t qualify for the Peach Jam main event an opportunity to showcase their abilities in the recruiting hotbed that is the Riverview Activities Center in North Augusta, S.C., this weekend. Their games don’t average as many blueblood onlookers as Peach Jam battles on other courts. But Duke basketball target Acaden Lewis was quite the popular attraction in PIT action on Saturday.
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Third-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer was on hand to watch the Sidwell Friends School (Washington, D.C.) four-star guard lead Team Durant, On3’s Joe Tipton first reported.
Reigning back-to-back UConn national champion head coach Dan Hurley was also in attendance for Lewis. So was Kentucky’s Mark Pope, Michigan’s Dusty May, Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, and Syracuse’s Red Autry, plus several assistants.
Lewis, who received an offer from Scheyer in late June on the way to climbing over 50 notches since January to his current ranking of No. 47 overall on the 247Sports 2025 Composite, orchestrated an 83-59 win over All Ohio Red. The 6-foot-2, 170-pound explosive tactician finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals, shooting 5-for-15 from the field, 2-for-6 from three, and 4-for-5 at the foul line.
As for where Scheyer & Co. stand in his recruitment, Acaden Lewis, one of 12 rising seniors with an offer out of Durham, dropped a top eight earlier this week. He included the Blue Devils, along with UConn, Kentucky, Syracuse, Auburn, Michigan, Tennessee, and Duke’s archrival, UNC.
In June, Lewis visited Kentucky, UConn, and UNC. The plan is for each of his eight finalists to host him for an official visit before he announces a winner in time for the early signing period in November.
Given the Blue Devils’ success rate in recruiting guards from Lewis’ neck of the woods in recent years and the connection he’s already built with the Duke basketball coaches, it seems Scheyer and his crew have as good of a chance as any to prevail.
“I have a great relationship with Coach Scheyer and his staff,” Lewis told Zagsblog’s Charlie Parent this past week. “They just seem fired up about me and think I can come in and play big minutes right away.”