A prep prospect with a rising stock expressed positive vibes regarding his recent Duke basketball visit.
Because coronavirus concerns halted all recruiting visits indefinitely, the last such memory for Paul VI Catholic (Va.) junior Trevor Keels is his trip to Durham on March 7, when he watched what became the last Duke basketball game of the season.
Duke took care of business that night with an 89-76 win over rival North Carolina (another of Keels’ suitors). And the five-star shooting guard — who accompanied teammate and five-star 2020 Duke signee Jeremy Roach on the visit — told SI director of basketball recruiting Jason Jordan this week that he walked away thinking the 2019-20 Blue Devils (25-6, 15-5 ACC) were leading NCAA title contenders.
Keels also suggested to Jordan that the experience Cameron Indoor Stadium provides is underrated:
“The environment at Duke was crazy. It was even better than people say.”
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The 6-foot-5, 210-pound sharpshooter — a reliable ballhandler and high-level tactician who recently shot up to No. 18 on the 247Sports 2021 Composite — also touched on his conversations with head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his overall impression from the unofficial visit:
“I talked to Coach K after the game, and he was just telling me about the game plan that night and talking to me about how I’d be used there. I had a great time.”
Keels boasts offers from 17 schools, per 247Sports. The 16-year-old hasn’t named finalists but has taken official visits to Virginia and Ohio State. As noted to Jordan, before the COVID-19 pandemic, he had intended to take the last three of his allotted official visits for his junior year but hadn’t decided on those destinations.
Duke has already snagged one 2021 commit in Archbishop Stepinac (N.Y.) five-star small forward A.J. Griffin.
Others from the class holding Duke basketball offers are Briarcrest Christian (Tenn.) five-star point guard Kennedy Chandler, Rolling Meadows (Ill.) five-star shooting guard Max Christie, The Patrick School (N.J.) five-star small forward Jonathan Kuminga, Hamilton (Wis.) five-star small forward Patrick Baldwin Jr., O’Dea (Wash.) five-star power forward Paolo Banchero, and Andrews Osborne (Ohio) four-star center Charles Bediako.
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