Duke Basketball: Isaiah Stewart is ready to announce his final six schools
By Matt Giles
One of Duke basketball’s highest-rated prospects announced on Thursday that he will trim his list of potential schools to six by Friday night.
Imagine Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, Villanova’s Jay Wright, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim all spending their Friday evenings anxiously watching the Twitter feed of a 17-year-old.
While that may not exactly be how it goes down in the Krzyzewski household, that would be indicative of the kind of buzz that five-star center Isaiah Stewart has created. The 6-foot-9, 245-pound native of Rochester, N.Y., announced through a tweet on Thursday that he is ready to trim his list of potential schools down to six.
Expect Stewart to name his six finalists via a tweet that should suddenly appear at some unspecified time on Friday night.
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And six is a curious number.
More than a month ago, Stewart said that he would eventually be cutting his list of 10 schools in half (math tells us that would make five). However, he also said that one school that didn’t appear in his top 10 still had a chance to join the race for his services. That school is Kentucky (Stewart indicated that he would likely start considering the Wildcats if they offered him a scholarship).
Could the reason for him setting the number at six mean that he has added Kentucky to his list?
Like the coaches, we will all just have to wait for Stewart’s next tweet to find out.
As of right now, the list of the fifth-ranked prospect in the class of 2019 (according to 247 Sports’ composite ranking) includes Duke, Villanova, Texas, Michigan State, Indiana, Syracuse, Louisville, Notre Dame, Georgetown, and Washington. The Crystal Ball at 247 Sports gives the Blue Devils a 91 percent chance of landing the big man (Villanova holds the remaining nine percent).
The high level of interest in Stewart mainly stems from the fact that he has made a habit of taking over games in high school and in summer tournaments by totally ruling the paint. Every step he takes has a sense of purpose. And every time he dunks, he does it with a sense of ferociousness that sends one clear message: Stay out of my way.
But on Friday night, the coaches in Durham will be hoping to see a tweet that further points to Stewart eventually heading the Duke Blue Devils’ way.
Please stay tuned to Ball Durham for more Duke basketball recruiting updates and analysis.