Duke basketball: Patrick Tape stuns by decommitting from Blue Devils

There’s another shocking development this offseason within the Duke basketball program as Columbia graduate transfer Patrick Tape has decommitted from the Blue Devils.

Patrick Tape was set to be the first-ever graduate transfer for the Duke Blue Devils under Mike Krzyzewski.

That lasted ten days, and this is not a belated April Fools’ Day joke.

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According to a report from Evan Daniels of 247 Sports, Tape has decided to decommit from the Blue Devils after announcing his decision to join the program on March 24.

Tape was set to fill a hole in the roster as a 6-foot-10 big man who would provide some veteran leadership with a group of young, skilled big men who are set to enter Durham next season: Mark Williams, Henry Coleman, and Jaemyn Brakefield.

Duke is losing captains Javin DeLaurier, Jack White, and Justin Robinson to graduation, but speculation has reached an all-time high regarding what else could transpire with the roster in the coming days.

After sitting out last season due to a toe injury, Tape averaged 11.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in his junior season of 2018-19 for Columbia.

The expectation is that National Freshman of the Year Vernon Carey Jr. will announce his intentions to enter the 2020 NBA Draft, but since the dominant force in the paint never got the chance to play in the ACC or NCAA Tournaments, could that factor into his decision?

It doesn’t seem likely, but who truly knows at this point.

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Rumblings have also surfaced of freshman Matthew Hurt returning to Duke. A projected lottery pick at the beginning of the season, Hurt’s inconsistent play has seen his name vanish in many two-round mock drafts, and a return to Durham seems much more likely than his freshman counterpart Carey Jr.

Lastly, that brings us to the decision of Cassius Stanley, who has been teasing at a possible return to Durham throughout quarantine, and despite being a guard, there are only so many scholarships available on a given college basketball roster.

ALSO READ: Cassius Stanley teases his decision

That number of scholarships is 13 to be exact, and with Tape now out of the picture, the Blue Devils have three open scholarships remaining for the 2020-21 season, not including the pending decisions of Carey Jr., Hurt, and Stanley.

Tape becomes the second player to leave the Blue Devils this offseason via transfer or decommitment as junior guard Alex O’Connell announced he would transfer from the program.

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The rumors and ideas will spread like a wildfire throughout the Duke fanbase in terms of what Patrick Tape’s decommitment truly means, but I can assure you this: Mike Krzyzewski has a plan, and his plans typically work out for the best.

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