Duke Basketball: Is Duke’s pursuit of Cole Anthony hurting its 2019 class?

Recruiting the wrong five-star recruit may have contributed to the Duke basketball program’s current inability to land a single five-star recruit.

Deny it all you want. Call me a Negative Nancy for believing it. Tell me it’s irresponsible and hurtful for me to write about it. But that won’t change the fact that something isn’t right about the Duke basketball coaches’ efforts to snag prospects from the 2019 class.

No need to worry?

Well, that sounds just peachy; problem is, though, it doesn’t sound accurate.

The class is currently stuck on empty. Rejections are numerous and seem to be the new norm, suggesting the basketball gods are punishing Duke after it just hauled in the most ridiculously talented class in history.

While some fans think it is best to stay in rah-rah mode regardless of the circumstances, that isn’t always the best way to help–especially when there is a tough-to-swallow solution that needs to come to light.

So what is that solution?

Ditch the dreams of Cole Anthony choosing Duke right away before it’s too late.

Do it before his recruitment drags on into the spring–as it is expected to–only to find out that he prefers to wear a lighter shade of blue. If not, Duke’s recruitment of Anthony may continue to dissuade other guards from coming to Durham (now only two four-stars, Boogie Ellis and Anthony Harris, remain on the list of 2019 guards the coaches are publicly pursuing).

So why hasn’t the Hall of Fame coach in Durham realized this is happening on his own?

Well, to begin with, it’s possible my theory is wrong. But it’s also possible it’s spot-on. And it’s even possible that the jaw-dropping skills of Anthony are blinding Mike Krzyzewski and his staff from seeing the ongoing negative impact that is stemming from their pursuit of that five-star combo guard–the 247Sports Composite ranks him No. 3 overall and No. 1 at his position in the 2019 class.

Continuing to recruit Anthony will only be worth the risk if he does decide to become a Blue Devil. But I don’t see that happening. Instead, what has already happened is other five-star guards have rejected Duke, and that’s likely in part due to the fact that they didn’t want to end up in a battle for playing time with Anthony; it’s a battle they know they wouldn’t likely win.

I believe that thought at least tickled the brain of Josiah James. And Bryan Antoine. And Nico Mannion. And Scottie Lewis.

Have you noticed that none of the above five-star guards (also former Duke targets) chose schools–or are currently choosing from schools–that have outstanding offers extended to Anthony?

I noticed. But I only noticed because I didn’t ignore the problems facing Duke and decided to research to see if my hunch was correct.

Tennessee (James’ choice) doesn’t have an offer out to Anthony. Neither does Villanova (Antoine’s choice). Same goes for Arizona (Mannion’s choice). And it’s also true for Florida and Kentucky (the two schools remaining on Lewis’ list).

Those are all but one of the five-star guards the Duke basketball coaches were pursuing. So that means the only hope for a five-star guard to become a Blue Devil rests on the decision of Anthony.

Now, not only does Duke have an offer on the table to Anthony, but 247Sports’ Crystal Ball unfortunately still lists the Blue Devils as the favorite to nab him (60 percent of the “experts” are in agreement).

What’s so unfortunate about that?

That ball, in my opinion, is dead wrong as it applies to Anthony, yet its prediction is available for the public–including Duke’s remaining and potential 2019 targets at guard–to see.

Why am I so confident it is wrong?

Click “Next” to find out…