Duke basketball: Future PG in Durham quietly returns for visit

A second official visit is apparently underway for a Duke basketball pledge who knows how to keep a secret.

Paul VI Catholic (Fairfax, Va.) senior point guard Jeremy Roach is no attention-seeker. Leading up to his sudden tweeted announcement in May of his commitment to the Duke basketball program, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound five-star had never once advertised or even hinted that a decision was close at hand.

Roach’s presence across social media has been quiet enough to hear a pin drop ever since. And a virtual pin did actually drop on his Instagram account on Friday evening when he posted a story that only included the words “Say sum” and his pinned location: the on-campus JB Duke Hotel. Not surprisingly, the pin is the only public notification of his return trip to Durham.

The first official visit came around this same time last year. At the time, Roach ranked No. 16 on the 247Sports 2020 Composite with most experts assuming he would end up at either Kentucky or Villanova. A little more than a month later, during an exhibition game prior to his junior campaign, he tore his right ACL. He has not played competitively ever since and has seen his ranking dip to No. 20 as a result.

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Roach — who is the heir apparent to Duke sophomore co-captain Tre Jones and shares a similar game in that his specialty is ball-hawking defense and his weakness is outside shooting — picked a weekend conducive to staying out of the limelight. The Duke football team is on a bye week. Plus, no uncommitted Duke basketball targets are in town.

Although the only remaining step in officially joining #TheBrotherhood is to sign in November, there’s no reason for Roach not to take advantage of this NCAA-allowed visit in order to strengthen relationships with the coaches and current Blue Devils.

Just don’t expect the 17-year-old to tweet, post, or talk much about the trip after returning home. And when Roach takes over the reins of the Duke basketball backcourt next fall — assuming Jones cashes in on his talents at the next level following this season — the Blue Devils can expect to benefit from his humility and abundance of on-court gifts, most notably his grit, unselfishness, creativity, and reliability.

With no other offers currently on the table to 2020 or 2021 point guards, Mike Krzyzewski and his staff might be hopeful Roach will do like Jones by becoming a rare modern-day five-star to stick around in college for more than one season.

As of Wednesday, though, the Blue Devils do have a commitment from Roach’s potential fellow freshman starter on the perimeter for the 2020-21 season: five-star combo guard D.J. Steward, who ranks No. 26. The only other 2020 Duke pledge to date is five-star small forward Jalen Johnson, who ranks No. 6 and announced his decision back on the Fourth of July.

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Other 2020 prospects holding Duke basketball offers include three who plan to choose a school in time for the fall signing period: five-star center Walker Kessler, who ranks No. 15; four-star center Mark Williams, who ranks No. 29; and four-star power forward Henry Coleman, who ranks No. 40 and has set an announcement date for Sept. 27. The Blue Devils hold Crystal Ball leads for all three.

Five-star small forward Ziaire Williams, who ranks No. 5 and also has an invite to play his college ball under Coach K and Co., won’t likely announce until the spring; at the moment, his Crystal Ball implies Duke has ground to make up on co-leaders UNC and Stanford.

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