Duke basketball recruiting: Major target decides not to reclass

A coveted 2021 bruiser who already holds a Duke basketball offer is reportedly no longer considering an early dive into the college game.

Surely, despite a few rising-senior post players appearing close to joining Jalen Johnson and Jeremy Roach as Duke basketball commits, coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff would have made room in their 2020 class for O’Dea High School (Seattle) power forward Paolo Banchero.

But on Tuesday, the 6-foot-9, 235-pounder put an end to Duke’s potential overcrowding issue by putting an end to his thoughts about whether to reclass. Per a tweet from Stockrisers’ Jake Weingarten, Banchero has decided — 100 percent — to stay put in 2021 (he ranks No. 4 overall and No. 1 at his position on the 247Sports Composite for his class).

Also, Weingarten reiterated Banchero’s plan to take an official visit to Duke in the fall (he also intends to use one of his five allotted official visits on Kentucky).

The 16-year-old five-star picked up his offer from Coach K on July 13 after posting Peach Jam averages of 25.2 points and 11.2 rebounds. In the process of putting up such lofty stats, he looked like a nimbler version of former one-and-done Blue Devil Jabari Parker (Banchero and the 2013-14 ACC Rookie of the Year share a similar burly frame and ability to pop out to the perimeter).

Simply put, where Banchero ends up could very well decide which program wins the national championship a few seasons from now.

Now, one might look at Banchero’s list of 14 offers and think Duke should be most concerned about Kentucky, Memphis, and North Carolina.

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Not the case.

Not only did Banchero grow up in Seattle, but his dad and mom met when they were both student-athletes at Washington. Naturally, the seven 247Sports experts to have entered early Crystal Ball predictions for Banchero all see him following in his parents’ footsteps.

Fortunately for Coach K and his assistants, now that Banchero has expressed no rush to go to college, they should still have plenty of time to sell him on the benefits of joining #TheBrotherhood.

The Duke basketball staff has also extended offers to four other 2021 five-stars: shooting guard Max Christie plus small forwards Jonathan Kuminga, Patrick Baldwin Jr., and A.J. Griffin.

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