A six-deep 2020 Duke basketball class seems one post presence short of completion, and one high school junior could become that final addition.
The only uncommitted 2020 prospect holding a Duke basketball offer, four-star center Hunter Dickinson, won’t likely end up in Durham. No, most insiders see the 7-foot-2, 260-pound lefty choosing Michigan within the coming weeks.
And assuming current freshman big man Vernon Carey Jr. cashes in his game after this season, next season’s Duke roster may list only one true center: four-star Mark Williams, who earlier this week signed his letter of intent to become a Blue Devil (so did five-star point guard Jeremy Roach, five-star combo guard D.J. Steward, five-star small forward Jalen Johnson, four-star power forward Henry Coleman, and four-star power forward Jaemyn Brakefield).
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Now, Mike Krzyzewski and his assistants might be OK tying the bow on their 2020 class as is. They might see the combination of Brakefield, Coleman, and current walk-on freshman forward Keenan Worthington providing ample bodies for practice and backup needs.
However, Andrews Osborne Academy (Ohio) junior center Charles Bediako, a reclass candidate, could turn out to be the answer to the Blue Devils’ remaining 2020-21 concerns in the paint. Duke assistants Jon Scheyer, Nate James, and Chris Carrawell drove all of 30 miles on Saturday in order to check out the four-star 17-year-old — who turns 18 in March — at the Phenom National Showcase in Raleigh.
Phenom’s National High School Showcase at @RavensAthletics #PhenomNationalShowcase
— Jamie Shaw (@JamieShaw5) November 16, 2019
Presented by @TheHoopState @JohnnysPizzaNC @ChampionTeams pic.twitter.com/NtPT0RUWqZ
Bediako, No. 40 overall on the 247Sports 2021 Composite, has not yet received a Duke offer, but Krzyzewski’s gang has now seen the 6-foot-11, 220-pound Canadian in action on several occasions (he scored 21 points in a loss this time around). So one could deduce the Blue Devils are waiting to see what happens with Dickinson and then Bediako’s reclass decision before handing out an offer.
So what are Bediako’s thoughts on a reclass? And what are those close to him saying about his game’s trajectory?…