Duke Basketball: Odds favor Blue Devils to land five-star C Isaiah Stewart

Five-star center Isaiah Stewart is expected to narrow his list of potential schools to five before the end of August, and the Duke basketball program figures to make the cut.

His 7-foot-4 wingspan is more than ideal. Same goes for the size of his hands (nearly the length of a standard ruler). Add to that the tremendous strength of his upper body. These are just some of the reasons that Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski wants Isaiah Stewart to join the Blue Devils’ family.

But Stewart is the type of center any program in the country would love to see don its jersey.

Back in May, though, the heralded big man used his Twitter feed to name just ten schools remaining on his list. That list includes Duke, Villanova, Texas, Michigan State, Indiana, Syracuse, Louisville, Notre Dame, Georgetown, and Washington.

In July, Stewart indicated that he plans to trim his list to five by the end of the summer, possibly suggesting that he will be ready to make a final decision before winter arrives.

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However, there is also the possibility that Stewart could include a school that he didn’t name in his top 10. That is because Kentucky has not offered him a scholarship; if they do, though, he said he intends to take it into consideration.

“I’m not sure if an offer’s going to come from Kentucky or not, but I keep hearing their name jump in the mix, talking to my coaches about me, so I’m not sure,” Stewart said in July, as reported by Adam Zagoria in his Zagsblog. “I would definitely start to look into that, but right now I’m just focused on the schools on my list.”

As of right now, the Blue Devils are still waiting on their first commitment from a player in the 2019 class. A commitment from the 6-foot-9, 245-pounder from Rochester, N.Y. (Stewart currently plays for La Lumiere School in Indiana) would certainly be a nice way to get the ball rolling for next season’s crop of freshmen at Duke.

And if the Crystal Ball at 247 Sports is accurate, the Blue Devils will do more than just make Stewart’s next cut; 91 percent of the experts used by the site are projecting him to eventually decide to play his college ball as a member of the home team in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Stewart is the No. 5 player in the nation per the composite ranking at 247 Sports. He is also considered the No. 2 true center in his class (behind James Wiseman, who is tagged as the No. 1 overall prospect but is not considering Duke).

If the Blue Devils were to convince Stewart and the top power forward in high school, Vernon Carey Jr., to both come to Durham, the program would secure an inside force that would rival last season’s duo of Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter Jr.

But just like Bagley, Carter Jr., and just about every other highly rated recruit at Duke from the past decade, the expectation is that Stewart and Carey Jr. will only stay in college for one season.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more updates on Duke basketball recruiting.