Duke basketball staff scares off Kentucky on recruiting trail

One can presume from recent trends and current offer lists that Kentucky has come to terms with Duke basketball dominance.

The Duke basketball recruiters seized their current throne via four of the nation’s past six No. 1 classes. Prior to the takeover, Kentucky coach John Calipari and his staff had reeled in six consecutive top hauls — they have done so only once ever since.

Moreover, the Wildcats finished second each year the Blue Devils finished first, suggesting that if not for Mike Krzyzewski and his assistants, Coach Cal likely would’ve been recruiting’s Mac Daddy 11 of the past 12 years.

"“Duke, specifically, has been a thorn in UK’s side in recent years,” Lexington Herald-Leader’s Ben Roberts wrote on Monday."

Obviously, Big Blue Nation isn’t too thrilled with the turn of events. Understandably, by no longer pursuing Duke basketball targets, Big Bad John appears to be taking a measure to keep his fanbase from having to witness future punches to his gut from Coach K.

"“None of the nine rising seniors with UK scholarship offers are high on Duke’s recruiting wishlist,” Roberts explained."

Roberts then broke down the two recent events that have evidently been the spark to Calipari waving a white flag at Krzyzewski:

"“The first point guard to land a Kentucky scholarship offer in [the 2020] class, Jeremy Roach, committed to the Blue Devils back in May, and UK had decided to move on weeks before after seeing the writing on the wall in that recruitment.”"

ALSO READ: The critical recovery of Duke pledge Jeremy Roach

That’s gotta sting. But the Wildcats’ pain intensified — along with their level of embarrassment — when the Blue Devils landed a second five-star commit (before any other program had landed its first, mind you).

"“A couple of months later,” Roberts recapped, “Duke struck again with a commitment from top-10 recruit Jalen Johnson, one of UK’s earliest targets in the 2020 class, a two-time visitor to Big Blue Madness, and a player that professed Kentucky to be his ‘dream school’ growing up.”"

ALSO READ: Jalen Johnson fires back at a personal attack

The fact that the five-star small forward was an early target is just a boo-boo for Calipari. The fact he was a two-time visitor to Big Blue Madness, though, figuratively serves as a flesh wound. As for Johnson turning down his “dream school” in favor of #TheBrotherhood, well, Kentucky fans probably didn’t figure Duke basketball’s 72-year-old leader would still have the mobility to pull off a roundhouse kick to the groin of their leader.

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

Now, folks in Lexington try to deny their nightmares of Krzyzewski — which only occurs whenever Duke basketball legend Christian “2.1 seconds is all I need” Laettner takes a break from haunting their sleep. The denial includes the mention of B.J. Boston, the five-star 2020 shooting guard who in late July chose Kentucky from a list of four finalists that included Duke, which, as Roberts pointed out, “was seen early on as a possible favorite in his recruitment.”

Of course, what requires an honest Dukie to mention is the fact that the Duke basketball coaches noticeably backed off Boston over the summer. However, even if Kentucky fans did agree with such an observation, they’d fail to acknowledge that the Blue Devils’ decreasing interest surely had nothing to do with feeling threatened by the Wildcats.

Instead, the evidence clearly shows Coach K had a change of heart after noticing Boston, a supposed sharpshooter, go 15-for-62 from downtown across 18 EYBL games this year. Furthermore, the teenager’s defensive deficiencies came under the spotlight at Peach Jam when he allowed 31 points from a four-star combo guard.

Two days later, Duke extended an offer to that four-star combo guard, D.J. Steward, suggesting Boston was no longer the preferred option as Roach’s backcourt running mate for the season after next.

RELATED: Blue Devils evidently have an eye for 2020 talent

Here’s how Roberts sees the current situation:

"“To fill out the rest of their classes, the two college basketball powerhouses seem to be looking in different directions.”"

Here’s a full-disclosure way of putting it:

Despite not needing a deeper 2020 class than the Duke basketball coaches, the dudes from Kentucky have twice as many offers out there pending answers at the moment, all but proving recruiting confidence is far higher in Durham than in Lexington.

In other words, Coach K — channeling his inner Laettner — walks confidently down whatever path he chooses without giving a hoot as to Kentucky’s location; meanwhile, Coach Cal seems to be choosing any and all paths that allow him to stay out of the way of his superior.

In addition to Steward, the current list of Duke basketball targets consists of five-star small forward Ziaire Williams, five-star center Walker Kessler, four-star center Mark Williams, and four-star power forward Henry Coleman — guys the Wildcats know to avoid in order to keep whatever dignity they have left.

RELATED: Duke out to crush UNC recruiting hopes

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