Crystal Ball crushes Duke basketball hopes to land recruit

The Duke basketball coaches’ chances to add their only remaining 2020 target to an already six-deep haul now seem nonexistent.

Recruiting’s top late-game prognosticator has spoken: DeMatha Catholic (Md.) center Hunter Dickinson, who plans to announce his college choice sometime this week, will almost certainly not become a Duke basketball player.

Granted, it’s true not all the Crystal Ball entries from 247Sports’ Evan Daniels prove correct. But recruiting’s Nostradamus does boast a 67-for-68 mark for the 2020 class, leaving little hope for any school he does not foresee snagging a particular recruit. His predictions typically come within days of announcements and follow interviews, suggesting he is often able to pry a strong hint or all-out heads up from the players themselves.

On Tuesday, shortly after reportedly speaking with Dickinson — who ranks No. 34 on the 247Sports 2020 Composite and closely resembles former Duke basketball big man Brian Zoubek in terms of his frame and game — Daniels mirrored the eight previous picks by forecasting the 7-foot-2, 260-pound four-star to choose Michigan.

Obviously, the coaches in Durham will have no reason to hang their heads should Dickinson in fact accompany his reported girlfriend, track star Ziyah Holman, to Ann Arbor. Despite arriving late to the race in September, Mike Krzyzewski and his staff managed to instantly land among his final four — also includes Florida State and Notre Dame — and then hosted him for an official visit in October.

Not to mention Duke currently holds the nation’s No. 2 class, per 247Sports, with signatures from six top 50 prospects: Paul VI Catholic (Va.) five-star point guard Jeremy Roach, Whitney Young (Ill.) five-star combo guard D.J. Steward, IMG Academy (Fla.) five-star small forward Jalen Johnson, Huntington Prep (W.Va.) four-star power forward Jaemyn Brakefield, Trinity Episcopal School (Va.) four-star power forward Henry Coleman, and IMG four-star center Mark Williams.

ALSO READ: Stacking up the Blue Devils’ six 2020 signees

Coach K and his cohorts are not currently awaiting answers to any other 2020 offers. At this point, they could 1) call it quits with six, 2) wait until to spring to seek some decommitted center or graduate transfer, or 3) bank on a reclass from a 2021 target.

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