Promising update on Duke basketball’s pursuit of five-star forward

Though some signs pointed to waning interest on both sides, an impending trip indicates a coveted 2021 recruit remains on the Duke basketball radar.

A lack of news seemed like bad news. And so too did a seemingly snickering tweet. But the most recent nugget regarding O’Dea (Wash.) power forward Paolo Banchero suggests the Duke basketball coaches still feel like they are in the thick of things.

Per a tweet on Wednesday from Stock Risers recruiting insider Jake Weingarten, at least one assistant from Durham will be in Seattle on Dec. 16 to check in on Banchero. Evidently, the fact that the 6-foot-9, 235-pound five-star junior retweeted news of Duke beating Winthrop on Friday is enough to overlook the fact he had quoted — and added crying-laughing emojis — a tweet relating to the program’s historic home loss to Stephen F. Austin three days prior.

Weingarten also reported that Gonzaga continues to make Banchero a “major priority” and plans to send an assistant his way on Monday. Plus, both UNC head coach Roy Williams and one of his assistants plan to show their faces at his high school on Dec. 11.

Banchero ranks No. 3 on the 247Sports 2021 Composite and brings to mind a more lively version of former Duke basketball one-and-done Jabari Parker due to his natural strength in addition to his wide array of smooth moves both around the basket and from the perimeter.

The uniquely gifted prospect has taken four official visits (to Duke, UNC, Kentucky, and Tennessee) all within the past three months — he attended Duke’s Countdown to Craziness on Oct. 18 — and has scheduled a mid-January trek to Gonzaga for his final allotted official visit for this school year.

Baylor, Memphis, Georgetown, and Washington account for the remainder of the nine finalists he announced in September. Both of Banchero’s parents were student-athletes at Washington, and the Huskies hold all eight expert picks inside his 247Sports Crystal Ball at the moment.

As for when Banchero plans to announce his choice, he has repeated that he’d like to have the decision out of the way by the start of his senior season next fall. And despite the fact he just turned 17 in November, meaning he’d be 19 at the start of what will likely be his lone college season before becoming a lottery pick, he has been clear that reclassing to 2020 is no longer an option he is considering.

What he has admitted to considering, though, is teaming up in college with his friend, five-star point guard Kennedy Chandler, who has drawn interest from Mike Krzyzewski’s staff — and even used the word “dream” when discussing the Blue Devils — but has yet to receive a Duke basketball offer. Chandler does hold offers from three of Banchero’s finalists: UNC, Tennessee, and Memphis.

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The Duke recruiters have already landed one 2021 commit in five-star small forward A.J. Griffin. In addition to Banchero, they still have 2021 offers out to five-star shooting guard Max Christie as well as five-star small forwards Jonathan Kuminga and Patrick Baldwin Jr. And they have what appears at this early stage to be a brief list of backup plans.

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