Duke basketball: Strong opinions on three future Blue Devils

Mark Williams could end up being the only player taller than 6-foot-9 on next season’s Duke basketball roster. In other words, of all the 2020 signees, the 7-foot-1, 225-pound shot-blocking specialist may be the one Mike Krzyzewski will most need to step up right away.

Yet according to Rivals’ Eric Bossi, the Virginia native — younger brother of Duke women’s basketball legend Elizabeth Williams — has plenty of work to do before routinely squaring off against guys his size and bigger at the NCAA level.

“As for Williams, the 7-footer is still developing and has to get more confident,” Bossi explained after the four-star’s relatively quiet Hoophall Classic performances for IMG Academy in both a win over The Patrick School (N.J.) on Saturday and a loss to No. 1 Montverde Academy (Fla.) on Sunday.

On the flip side, as one can see in the below clip, Williams is neither short on unselfishness nor basketball instincts:

And while Bossi evidently doesn’t expect Williams to dominate the post in a similar fashion to recent post stars at Duke, he also doesn’t discount what the towering prospect does excel at:

“…[Williams] has touch, runs well enough, and as more of a rebounder and rim protector is a change of pace from guys like Marvin Bagley III or Vernon Carey Jr.”

All in all, from the eye tests that Bossi compiled over the weekend for Williams, Steward, and Roach, he offered a promising conclusion regarding this half of the Duke basketball program’s six-deep 2020 class:

“Blue Devil fans can believe the hype.”

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