The Duke basketball coaches may face a “can’t have one without the other” recruiting scenario, but the “other” apparently hopes to at least have the option to become a Blue Devil.
Despite not yet holding a Duke basketball offer, Briarcrest Christian School (Tenn.) junior point guard Kennedy Chandler seems to always mention the staff from Durham during interviews. And this makes sense considering the 6-foot-1, 165-pound five-star has expressed — per a tweet in July from Steve Clark of The Devils Den — that his dream has long been for the Blue Devils to recruit him.
But Chandler, who ranks No. 16 on the 247Sports 2021 Composite and already holds a few dozen offers, remains optimistic that a few more invites from blue-blood suitors, including Duke, are still on the way.
"“UNC, Kentucky, and Duke — plus Kansas, who offered — are staying involved,” Chandler told Stock Risers’ Jake Weingarten on Monday. “UNC, Kentucky, and Duke haven’t offered yet, but I believe they are gonna come soon.”"
Chandler’s chat with Weingarten also suggested that it would be in the best interest of Mike Krzyzewski and his assistants to hand him an offer if they are serious about hauling in a commitment from his buddy, O’Dea High School (Wash.) junior power forward Paolo Banchero.
"“Me and Paolo are trying to play together,” Chandler openly said of his shared vision with the 6-foot-9, 235-pound five-star who sits at No. 3 in their class and received a Duke offer in July. “I love playing with him. He is a great player to play with. We were teammates at USA and just completely dominated.”"
Over the weekend, the pair checked out Tennessee together. The official visit was the first for Chandler, who has not named finalists but has already booked his other four allotted official visits for his junior year: to Syracuse and Ole Miss in November and then to Florida State and Michigan in February. Though one could speculate his scheduled dates indicate that time is running out on the Blue Devils, his dad, Kylan, assured Rivals’ Eric Bossi two weeks ago that his son is in no hurry to make a decision and will likely take more visits as a senior.
Banchero, who attended Countdown to Craziness on Oct. 18 during his official visit to Durham, named finalists in September. In addition to Tennessee and Duke, he is still considering Kentucky, North Carolina, Washington, Gonzaga, Georgetown, Baylor, Michigan, and Memphis. Unlike Chandler, he informed Kentucky Sports Radio that he anticipates picking a school prior to the start of his senior year.
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Now, it’s possible the Duke coaches’ delay in extending an offer to Chandler is tied to their anticipation that the five-star point guard in their 2020 class, Jeremy Roach, could still be around for the 2021-22 season.
But if Coach K and his cohorts, who have scouted and talked to Chandler on multiple occasions, do indeed give him what he dreams of and then are lucky enough to land both him and Banchero, then Duke basketball fans would have every reason to dream often about the duo in anticipation of their arrival.
First, Chandler is a speedy floor general whose top weapon appears to be his aggressive defense, highlighted by his floor-diving intensity. That in addition to the way he glides to the basket before tossing up either pinpoint floaters, high-glass layups, or alley-oops sparks memories of former Duke basketball champ Chris Duhon. Also like Duhon, though, Chandler’s shooting mechanics, while adequate, could use a few tweaks.
As for Banchero, he’s both a beast in the paint and a threat from the perimeter. In Duke basketball terms, he’s basically what Jabari Parker would be after chugging a 24-ounce Red Bull. In other words, in addition to his soft touch, strong frame, quick instincts, and smooth handles, Banchero exhibits a consistently high level of energy on both ends of the floor. Finding any weaknesses in his game would require a magnifying glass.
Banchero is one of five five-stars making up Duke’s 2021 offer sheet at the moment. The others are shooting guard Max Christie, small forward Patrick Baldwin Jr., small forward A.J. Griffin, and small forward Jonathan Kuminga. So far, though it is still extremely early in the recruiting cycle, the Blue Devils have not yet reeled in a 2021 commitment.
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