Duke basketball: Final Class of 2020 recruiting rankings cause confusion

The final rankings for the Class of 2020 have been released and there is some confusion as to how the Duke basketball program was handed its cumulative score.

When ESPN updated its final recruiting rankings, a couple of members of the incoming Duke basketball recruiting class took to Twitter to express their frustration, and those frustrations are going to carry over as 247 Sports just released its final rankings for the Class of 2020.

These rankings are from the Top247 Rankings and not the 247 Sports Composite Rankings, which will show a different ranking for each player.

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Starting off with the Blue Devils’ top-ranked recruit, Jalen Johnson, who dropped four spots to No. 12 and has seemingly been punished for the confusion surrounding his senior year of high school in which he started at IMG Academy and finished at Nicolet High School.

Incoming freshman center Mark Williams took a major jump fifteen spots to No. 16 and was upgraded from a four-star recruit to a five-star.

Shooting guard DJ Steward also saw a climb up the rankings, although his rise was less steep, only seeing an increase of five spots up to No. 21.

Tre Jones‘ replacement, Jeremy Roach, took a bit of a fall as well, dropping three spots to No. 22 and is the final five-star recruit that will be entering Durham next season.

Much like Roach, forward Henry Coleman also took a dip two spots down to No. 41 as the four-star recruit could be sticking around the program for more than one season.

Jaemyn Brakefield, a 6-foot-8 four-star forward and the lowest-ranked incoming Blue Devil, saw a rise up six spots to No. 49 in the rankings.

Duke’s incoming class is ranked as the third-best class in the country, according to 247 Sports, only trailing the Kentucky Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels.

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However, the breakdown in grading the classes and the number of five-star recruits created the confusion in how the three bluebloods are ranked.

All three schools bring in six commits. Kentucky sports two five-stars and four four-stars while the Tar Heels bring in three five-stars and four-stars.

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As for Duke, Mike Krzyzewski welcomes in four five-stars and two four-stars and has an average grade of 98.97 while Kentucky’s class has an average grade of 98.99 and the Tar Heels with a 98.08 grade.

The Blue Devils have more five-stars than their two rivals, a higher average grade than North Carolina, and yet are still ranked third among the thee schools.

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It doesn’t add up or make much sense, but perhaps the disrespect or “under the radar” mentality for this Duke team will be a blessing in disguise as the Blue Devils look to bring a sixth National Championship back to Durham.

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