Duke Basketball: Cassius Stanley’s two-day delay no worry for Blue Devils
By Matt Giles
Duke basketball target Cassius Stanley’s announcing a new announcement date should not somehow suggest the Blue Devils are no longer the favorites to reap the rewards of his top-of-the-class leaping ability next season.
Here’s a worst-case scenario for Duke basketball fans stemming from Wednesday’s recruiting news: In hindsight, folks will realize Cassius Stanley’s latest postponement was a purposeful maneuver to sync his announcement with that of Cole Anthony.
Roughly an hour after news broke of Anthony’s decision to announce his college choice on Monday, Stanley tweeted his decision to push back his own announcement from Saturday to Monday.
The timing of his tweet may not have been a coincidence.
After all, the respective final-four lists of Anthony and Stanley share one program in common: Oregon.
Put simply, the pair of 2019 guards may have hatched a plan to quack together in what would be a formidable backcourt next season.
This worst-case scenario for Dukies, though, would come with good news and bad news.
First comes the bad news: The Blue Devils, facing what currently looks to be a hops-deficient roster next season, would miss out on Stanley, a four-star shooting guard whose No. 29 ranking on the 247Sports Composite is largely due to his never stepping off his invisible trampoline.
ALSO READ: Durham has ample airspace for 2019 G Cassius Stanley
But here’s the good news: UNC fans, who are giddy from what appears to be a strong chance of Chapel Hill serving as the one-season stomping grounds for Anthony, would be heartbroken if the five-star combo guard with a No. 4 composite ranking ended up at Oregon. Currently, 90 percent of the 247Sports Crystal Ball shows Anthony as a future Tar Heel with the remaining 10 percent showing him as a Duck.
Unfortunately, though, for Duke fans — like the one writing this — who always draw pleasure from Tar Heel hearts aching, Anthony is likely to face the Blue Devils next season when sports’ fiercest rivals meet (i.e., Anthony will likely choose UNC).
Fortunately, though, for Duke fans, Stanley is likely to face the Tar Heels in the same rivalry games (i.e., Stanley will likely choose Duke; 59 percent of the 247Sports Crystal Ball shows such a future with zero percent placing Stanley in Oregon).
Here’s a quick glimpse of what Stanley could do to lower Duke fans’ jaws when those games take place:
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1101200075047481345
The most sensible explanation for Mr. Windmill’s two-day announcement delay — he had already pushed back the date from Wednesday to Saturday after deciding to take an official visit to Durham last weekend and adding Duke to what was a three-school list containing Oregon, Kansas, and UCLA — is likely rooted in his finding out Saturday’s Jordan Brand Classic, which begins at 6 p.m. EST, will not air on TV this year.
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The event has served in past years as a popular time for uncommitted recruits to announce live their decisions to an ESPN audience.
Side notes: Anthony will also play in the game. Same goes for all three of Duke’s 2019 signees: five-star center Vernon Carey Jr., five-star small forward Wendell Moore, and four-star combo guard Boogie Ellis. However, five-star power forward Matthew Hurt, whom most experts see putting on some form of Duke gear during his announcement ceremony on Friday, will not be in Las Vegas for what is an annual showcase of high school seniors.
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So, Duke fans, don’t read too deep into Stanley’s postponement of his announcement (even though it’s tempting to, considering no explanation came from the 6-foot-5, 180-pound California native, who attends Sierra Canyon High School, which was also the high school of former Blue Devil Marvin Bagley III).
Ball Durham already dove into the speculation pool’s deep end — call it a service to Duke fans — only to end up with the same predictions it had prior to Stanley’s change of date:
Stanley will be a Blue Devil while Anthony, unfortunately, will be a Tar Heel.
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