Duke Basketball: Bryan Antoine stuns Blue Devils, picks Villanova

Five-star point guard Bryan Antoine proved all the experts wrong by opting not to join the Duke basketball program.

The Crystal Ball at 247Sports definitely got it wrong with former Duke basketball prospect Bryan Antoine.

Despite 100 percent of the experts used by the site predicting the five-star shooting guard would land in Durham, Antoine announced on Tuesday that he will instead become a member of the program that won last year’s national title, the Villanova Wildcats.

Antoine, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound guard from New Jersey, is listed on 247Sports’ composite rankings as the nation’s top shooting guard and 11th-best overall prospect.

More from Ball Durham

This latest news leaves the Blue Devils still without a single commitment for their 2019 class.

And that is not promising news for a program that will likely lose four current freshmen — R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish, Zion Williamson, and Tre Jones — to the NBA at the end of the 2018-19 season.

The reality of the one-and-done era at Duke is that the coaches must always be prepared to fully reload each and every season.

That being said, although Antoine’s announcement leaves Duke fans with plenty of disappointment, the Blue Devils are still considered the favorites to receive commitments from five of the nation’s five-star prospects and could be the surprise pick of several others.

The news from Antoine also could lead other highly rated guard prospects to be attracted to the lack of projected competition at their position in Durham.

Most of the experts at the Crystal Ball consider Duke to be the favorite for combo guard Cole Anthony (No. 3 overall according to the composite rankings at 247Sports) and point guard Josiah James (listed No. 13 overall).

But Antoine proved on Tuesday that experts don’t always possess fully functional crystal balls after all.

Next. Duke-Kentucky comparison and prediction. dark

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

Home/Duke Basketball Recruiting