Duke basketball: Blue Devils one visit closer to masterpiece class

A preseason Duke basketball party is now set to include a king-size visitor who may become one of two finishing touches to a historically deep — and early — recruiting haul.

The 2020 Duke basketball class is well on its way to becoming one of Mike Krzyzewski’s most complete and quickest to complete. Already in place are five top-40 commits spread across four positions: five-star point guard Jeremy Roach, four-star combo guard D.J. Steward, five-star small forward Jalen Johnson, plus two four-star power forwards in Henry Coleman and Jaemyn Brakefield.

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And a seven-layer masterpiece — necessary with as few as three scholarship players returning next year — could be in the bag by month’s end, in plenty of time for each name to be in ink by the end of the fall signing period (Nov. 13-21).

On Monday, per recruiting insider Adam Zagoria, Krzyzewski took another step toward pulling off such a crazy feat by securing an official visit from Dematha Catholic (Md.) center Hunter Dickinson for Oct. 17-19, the same weekend as Countdown to Craziness (last year’s rendition of the annual introduction to a new Duke basketball season helped lead to eventual commitments from two visitors, Johnson and current Duke freshman center Vernon Carey Jr.).

Despite waiting until the end of September to extend an offer, Duke landed among Dickinson’s final four last week, alongside Florida State, Michigan, and Notre Dame (he took an official visit to each of those three in September).

The 7-foot-2, 260-pound four-star, who would tie 80’s backup big man Martin Nessley as Coach K’s tallest Blue Devil, has not specified a date for his final decision but does intend to have it out of the way before his season senior begins. Both of the picks inside his Crystal Ball see Michigan as the frontrunner, but no expert has entered a prediction since the news of his Duke offer.

One weekend after the visit from Dickinson — who ranks No. 34 on the 247Sports 2020 Composite and is essentially the 2.0 version of 2010 Duke basketball national champion Brian Zoubek — Coach K and his assistants will host another four-star 2020 center, Mark Williams.

Like Dickinson, Williams — a 7-foot-1, 225-pounder who ranks No. 29 and whose final three consists of Duke, UCLA, and Michigan — is a probable multiyear college player and is also eyeing a decision date between the end of his Duke visit and the start of the early signing period. The Crystal Ball shows the Norfolk, Va., native — now teammate and roommate to Johnson at IMG Academy (Fla.) — as a future Blue Devil.

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If both Dickinson and Williams become Blue Devils — granted, with Duke not likely to start two 7-footers, a commitment from one could cause the other to end up elsewhere — then the coaches would have the luxury of basically calling it quits on the 2020 class before all the leaves have fallen (maybe adding a three-star in April if need be). They would thereby be able to spend winter and spring honing in on 2021 targets.

Speaking of 2021 targets, five-star forwards Paolo Banchero and A.J. Griffin are also on tap to be in attendance at Countdown to Craziness (Banchero is using an official visit while, as reported by Zagoria, Griffin plans to be there with his mother in an unofficial capacity).

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