Duke basketball offer goes out to top Tar Heel target

Nothing could be finer than if Duke basketball was to snatch a top 2020 recruit away from North Carolina.

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams and his staff long ago made Ziaire Williams a priority for their 2020 class. Not so fast, Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski essentially said to Ol’ Roy on Wednesday.

The recruit Williams — not the dadgum 68-year-old in Chapel Hill — is a 6-foot-8, 190-pound small forward out of California and will play his senior season for Sierra Canyon (the same high school in Los Angles that incoming Duke freshman Cassius Stanley and former one-and-done Blue Devil Marvin Bagley III each attended).

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Williams, who ranks No. 7 on the 247Sports Composite, announced his Duke offer via a tweet late Wednesday evening.

And the Blue Devils may have entered the race just in the nick of time.

Williams intends to put out a list of a handful of finalists in the coming weeks and then likely announce his decision in the fall. He has not yet scheduled any official visits.

Four of the seven experts at the 247Sports Crystal Ball to have entered picks see Williams as a future Tar Heel; the other three see him landing at Stanford.

Although Williams needs to spend some time in the weight room, the time he has spent in the gym has obviously paid off. He has a slick, quick release from deep — his specialty — but can also stop on a dime when driving to the hoop and sink mid-range jumpers.

Furthermore, he’s a versatile athlete — can play the two through the four — and a lengthy, aggressive defender. However, in addition to needing to add muscle, his handles could use some fine-tuning.

But his total package is one any coach would love to have.

Now, the Blue Devils do already have a 2020 commitment from five-star Jalen Johnson, who ranks No. 4 and plays the same position as Williams (Duke’s other 2020 commit to date is five-star point guard Jeremy Roach). Apparently, though, Krzyzewski and his staff must believe Johnson and Williams could coexist together — obviously, both guys would also have to want to do so.

ALSO READ: Duke commit Jalen Johnson befriends two budding 2020 targets

Of course, Coach K could just be getting inside Ol’ Roy’s head with this latest move; if that’s the case, Ball Durham certainly approves.

Duke’s other 2020 offers still on the table are to five-star point forward Cade Cunningham, five-star shooting guard B.J. Boston, five-star center Walker Kessler, four-star center Mark Williams, four-star power forward Henry Coleman, and four-star combo guard D.J. Steward.

ALSO READ: The four 2020 targets who look to be Durham-bound

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