Duke Basketball: Isaiah Stewart race gives Tom Izzo rematch with Coach K

If the top undecided center in the 2019 class soon dons a blue cap with a “D” on it, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo should consider withdrawing in the future from battles that include Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The Duke basketball team’s current record just so happens to be Coach K’s all-time record on the hardwood against Tom Izzo.

11-1.

Part of the reason for that disparity may be a result of a psychological advantage. But another part is that Durham has served as the stomping ground to a greater mass of talent over the years than East Lansing.

One snapshot of that five-star dominance — other than the fact that the Blue Devils have snagged the nation’s top recruiting class three years straight — is a 5-to-1 advantage in the number of former players from each program who have appeared in at least one NBA game this season:

Blue Devils 25, Spartans 5.

And on the 2019 recruiting trail, Krzyzewski’s head-to-head mark against Izzo sits at 1-0. But the one victory was a big one.

Quite literally.

Five-star center Vernon Carey Jr., a 6-foot-10, 275-pound multi-faceted bruiser who is ranked No. 2 on the 247Sports Composite, ripped the hearts out of Spartan fans by pulling out a handkerchief with a Duke logo in the center of it during his announcement ceremony on Dec. 6.

ALSO READ: Vernon Carey Jr. whets Blue Devils’ appetites with latest highlights

Ever since Carey Jr.’s decision, the chatter on Twitter from Team Izzo has centered on the advantage the Spartans should now hold over the Blue Devils in the race for five-star Isaiah Stewart, the top undecided center in the 2019 class.

However, what seems to be a logical advantage may not be an advantage at all; after all, Stewart has repeatedly welcomed playing alongside Carey Jr.

Based on comments from the community of recruiting experts, Stewart’s past comments, as well as his comments on Tuesday night during an Instagram Live interview with Tipton Edits — click “NEXT” below — it seems a) His recruitment is a two-team race, and b) We should all find out shortly whether Izzo has actually discovered the magic beans to beat Coach K…

What Stewart said. What it may mean.

Stewart — a 6-foot-9, 245-pound powerful paint prowler from Rochester, N.Y., who possesses a ridiculous 7-foot-5 wingspan, a motor that never sputters, a soft touch, a nimble set of feet, and a No. 6 composite ranking — began his interview with Tipton Edits by confirming that he is deciding between five schools: Kentucky, Syracuse, Washington, Michigan St., and Duke.

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Note: The order of the schools listed above represents my opinion as to the order of each school’s chance, from worst to best.

Stewart has already taken an official visit to all five programs. And on Tuesday night, he commented on his thoughts about all of them.

However, as evidenced by a noticeable shortage of “likes” given to the tweets from Tipton Edits announcing what he had to say about Kentucky, Syracuse, and Washington, the fanbases of those three schools seem to have thrown in the towel. (247Sports’ Crystal Ball also suggests Michigan St. and Duke are the only two with a legitimate shot.)

So, we’ll skip those comments here by diving straight into what he said about the Spartans and the Blue Devils.

His words focused on his relationships with the 2019 commitments from each school.

Apparently, he has been in close contact with Rocket Watts, a four-star combo guard who has already committed to MSU. Here’s the tweet transcribing that segment of the interview:

That sounds peachy. In contrast, though, his comments about Duke’s three 2019 commitments — Carey Jr., five-star small forward Wendell Moore (ranked No. 24), and four-star combo guard Boogie Ellis (ranked No. 36) — were shorter, sweeter (at least in my eyes), and more to the point:

ALSO READ: Blue Devil commits in group chat with Isaiah Stewart

As for when to expect that seal:

In summary, Stewart’s comments suggest January may be the month he finally puts an end to the recruiting process. (In other words, be on the lookout for an announcement of the date of his announcement to come any day now.)

And the reactions from fans (at the time of publishing, his comments about #TheBrotherhood had garnered 428 “likes” compared to 280 for his comments about Watts) suggest that either a) Duke has more recruiting-obsessed fans prowling around on Twitter, or b) A chunk of MSU fans understandably feel hopeless in Izzo’s chances of ever again beating Krzyzewski at anything.

Coach K and his passionate fans — who will never apologize for his greed on the recruiting trail or the success of his five-stars from the time they arrive in Durham through the end of their NBA careers — are also still waiting on the announcement of five-star forward Matthew Hurt, who is ranked No. 7  and is not expected to decide on a college until the spring.

ALSO READ: Matthew Hurt to be in Cameron Indoor Stadium for Virginia game

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