Duke basketball: Bonus recruiter to attend Countdown to Craziness

Three key Duke basketball targets plan to be at the annual preseason party inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, so it can’t hurt that a recent pledge now aims to be there as well.

Countdown to Craziness always serves as a major recruiting tool, and this year is no exception. This year, a few recruits with outstanding Duke basketball offers have already marked their calendars to be at the Oct. 18 festivities.

The crowd list includes two 2021 targets, both five-stars: O’Dea High School (Wash.) power forward Paolo Banchero, a 6-foot-9, 235-pounder who ranks No. 3 on the 247Sports 2021 Composite and is set be in Durham for an official visit that weekend, and Archbishop Stepinac (N.Y.) small forward A.J. Griffin, a 6-foot-7, 215-pounder who ranks No. 8 and plans to attend the event with his mom, per recruiting insider Adam Zagoria.

Meanwhile, DeMatha Catholic (Md.) center Hunter Dickinson is the only 2020 target on slate to be among the crowd. Like Banchero, the 7-foot-2, 260-pound four-star, who sits No. 34 on the 247Sports 2020 Composite, will be on his official visit at the time.

But the list doesn’t end there. According to a Tuesday tweet from Stock Risers’ Jake Weingarten, Huntington Prep (W.Va.) senior power forward Jaemyn Brakefield, who committed to becoming a Blue Devil last week within 48 hours of receiving the offer and despite having never visited, plans to be there to check out where he’ll be playing this time year (like Griffin, Brakefield’s visit will reportedly be unofficial).

As an admitted longtime Duke basketball fan, Brakefield — a 6-foot-9, 215-pound four-star with a No. 38 ranking — should do nothing but help Mike Krzyzewski and his staff recruit by trying to sell Banchero, Griffin, and Dickinson on #TheBrotherhood.

However, although the two 2021 prospects’ rankings obviously point to their importance down the road, neither is likely to announce a final decision anytime soon. Dickinson, on the other hand, represents a more pressing need. After all, he plans to commit to one of his four finalists — Duke, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Florida State — in time for the fall signing period (Nov. 13-21).

Plus, seeing that Dickinson would be a part of the same Duke class as Brakefield — not to mention they would likely share the paint at times as freshmen — it seems vital for the two to get along as they watch the introduction of the 2019-20 Blue Devils together.

On top of Brakefield, the 2020 Duke basketball class consists of five-star combo guard D.J. Steward, five-star small forward Jalen Johnson, five-star point guard Jeremy Roach, and four-star power forward Henry Coleman.

Other than Dickinson, the only senior at the center of the staff’s radar is four-star 2020 center Mark Williams, who has scheduled his visit for the following weekend and intends to unveil his college choice on Nov. 1.

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