Duke basketball offer within reach for reclass candidate

Talk of a reclass from a dual-threat guard may have piqued Duke basketball interest.

As the Duke basketball coaches sit back and enjoy a show this weekend, they may start whispering to one another, Hey, we need to go ahead and give this kid an offer.

The kid — the show — is a five-star named Devin Askew, who is considering a reclass from 2021 to 2020.

Per a tweet from 247Sports’ Andrew Slater, the Duke staff will be in Colorado for a USA Basketball minicamp and intend to keep a close eye on the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder out of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif.

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Some call the rising junior a point guard after watching his dazzling dribbles and dishes. Others browse his wide selection of buckets and tag him a combo guard.

Whatever he is has landed him 13 offers to date and a No. 16 ranking on the 247Sports Composite for his class.

And with averages of 16.3 points and 6.0 assists at Peach Jam earlier this month — not to mention his impressive 41-for-99 clip from deep across his Team WhyNot’s 20 Nike EYBL games this season — his ranking should soon be heading north, which may further sway him to trim a year off his high school career.

In fact, the fact Askew ranks high on Duke’s radar all of a sudden may have to do with his remarks at Peach Jam suggesting a reclass may soon be a done deal. The timing aligns with the Blue Devils’ recent scramble to find other 2020 guard options now that signs suggest longtime target B.J. Boston, a five-star shooting guard, will land elsewhere.

"“I don’t know. It’s not for sure yet,” Askew responded to the reclass question, as reported by Tuscon.com. “I’m definitely thinking about it, sitting down and talking to my parents, my trainers, my coaches, my peers, my big bros, some that played in the league and some that played overseas.“I’m just taking it in right now and I’ll make a decision before my junior year starts.”"

The decision from Mike Krzyzewski and his assistants as to whether or not to offer Askew a spot in their 2020 class will likely depend on whether they are able to envision him sharing a backcourt with five-star Blue Devil commit Jeremy Roach — a pure point guard who ranks No. 18 on the 2020 composite.

In terms of a comparison to a former Duke basketball guard, Askew’s sturdy base, decisive movements, accurate trigger, and intense demeanor all bring to mind a cross between Gary Trent Jr. and Austin Rivers:

With Blue Devils eyes on him this weekend, if Askew continues his visible recent rise in confidence — his 14.9 scoring average across the seven games since the start of Peach Jam is up from 9.8 across 13 EYBL games in the spring — he could hold an invite to join #TheBrotherhood within days of his 17th birthday on Friday.

If he does decide to make his next high school season his last and also snatches a Duke offer, he’d join six others on Coach K’s 2020 list of invites yet to RSVP: Boston, five-star point forward Cade Cunningham, five-star center Walker Kessler, four-star center Mark Williams, four-star power forward Henry Coleman, and four-star combo guard D.J. Steward.

Roach and five-star small forward Jalen Johnson currently comprise the list of 2020 Duke commits.

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