New Duke basketball offer comes with tough pill to swallow

The only Duke basketball offer thus far at Peach Jam seems to be a backup plan for if a five-star 2020 guard long holding a Duke offer ends up elsewhere.

Getting to know any new Duke basketball target is appetizing. But the latest appetizer is not without bittersweet implications.

Four-star 2020 combo guard D.J. Steward announced his offer from Mike Krzyzewski and his staff via a Saturday morning tweet. The 6-foot-4, 165-pound Chicagoan (Whitney Young High School) has achieved his No. 27 ranking on the 247Sports Composite by sporting a sweet array of handles and scoring moves complementing his effective — even if not the silkiest — outside stroke.

The bitter aftertaste from the offer, however, is the assumption Krzyzewski and his cohorts no longer like their chance to snag five-star shooting guard Brandon Boston Jr.

After all, the invitation for Steward to become a Blue Devil comes on the heels of Boston, who ranks No. 10 and was one of the first 2020 prospects the Duke coaches made a priority, naming Oregon as a late addition to his finalists. Adding to the bad signs, the 6-foot-7, 185-pound Boston — a look-a-like to former Blue Devil star Brandon Ingram — scheduled another official visit to Kentucky for the end of July.

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Fortunately, Steward has plenty to offer should he decide to take the Duke staff up on its offer.

The rising senior limits opponents’ steal opportunities by staying low to the ground when dribbling through traffic. He attacks the lane with the determination and explosiveness of former Blue Devil treasure Grayson Allen. But Steward’s overall game looks most like one solid multi-functional guard who arrived in Durham nearly 20 years ago: Daniel Ewing.

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Like Allen and Ewing, Steward could adequately fill in at point guard when necessary.

Duke’s 2020 class already includes commitments from five-star floor general Jeremy Roach, who ranks No. 18, and five-star small forward Jalen Johnson, who ranks No. 4, giving the Blue Devils a significant lead over the competition in the battle for the No. 1 class.

At Peach Jam this week, Steward told 247Sports’ John Watson that Johnson has been putting in work as a behind-the-scenes recruiter for #TheBrotherhood.

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"“Jalen talks to me a lot,” said Steward, who now holds 17 offers. “He just committed to Duke, and he’s talked with me a lot. We talk a lot for about a year now.“He’s really talented and he’s a cool guy, good guy to vibe with off the court. It’d be great to play with him. He’s been talking with me about playing there.”"

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According to his chat with Watson, Steward plans to soon start scheduling official visits but has no clue when he’ll ultimately decide where to play his college ball.

Meanwhile, Boston has hinted his decision may come by summer’s end.

So is it possible Duke, whose 2020 class may need to be at least seven deep to adequately reload from expected departures from the 2019-20 roster, will land both Boston and Steward?

Absolutely. But considering that the players most likely to return to Durham after next season are four guards/wings — Jordan Goldwire, Alex O’Connell, Jordan Goldwire, and Cassius Stanley — don’t count on it.

Of course, it’s also possible the Blue Devils could miss on both Boston and Steward. If that’s the case, they could probably go without adding an off-guard/secondary ball-handler for the above reason. That being said, the Duke staff does appear to have eyes on other 2020 shooting guard options.

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