Duke basketball signee to play in four televised games

One 2020 recruit will show Duke basketball fans what they have to look forward to via four televised games across six days.

The Beach Ball Classic — which proclaims itself as “America’s finest high school basketball tournament” — once again features a future Duke basketball player.

This time around — current freshman Wendell Moore starred at the event in Myrtle Beach, S.C., last year, and former one-and-done Blue Devil R.J. Barrett did so in 2017 — the prospect is Whitney Young (Ill.) combo guard D.J. Steward, who ranks No. 26 on the 247Sports 2020 Composite and added a signature in November to his commitment to play in Durham next season.

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Fortunately for Duke basketball fanatics, the top-notch holiday prep spectacle is nowadays on TV. Most cable packages, as well as antennas, pick up the station broadcasting the entire showcase: Stadium. Here’s the complete schedule.

Steward’s first game, against St. Thomas (Texas), tips off at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday. Should he and his squad lose, they would next take the court in the loser’s bracket on Friday at noon. Should Whitney Young beat St. Thomas, though, Steward wouldn’t play again until Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

If Steward and his teammates win their first three games — the third would be on Monday at 7:00 p.m. — then they would compete for the tournament’s title at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. But regardless of their number of wins and losses during their six-day stay on the Grand Strand, they will play a total of four televised games.

With a style and frame that bring to mind former Duke guard Daniel Ewing, Steward figures to contribute right away as a Blue Devil next season (the 18-year-old’s scoring potential seems to be a bit beyond that of Ewing, a 2001 McDonald’s All-American, at his age).

The Blue Devils’ other five 2020 signees are Paul VI Catholic (Va.) five-star point guard Jeremy Roach, IMG Academy (Fla.) five-star small forward Jalen Johnson, Trinity Episcopal (Va.) four-star power forward Henry Coleman, Huntington Prep (W.Va.) four-star power forward Jaemyn Brakefield, and IMG four-star center Mark Williams.

ALSO READ: Stacking up Duke’s six 2020 signees

Duke’s crop of high school seniors currently ranks No. 2 in the country, per 247Sports, behind Kentucky’s.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more Duke basketball recruiting updates, analyses, opinions, and predictions.