Duke basketball: Coach K might as well pursue recruit’s younger brother

A slick move by a blueblood recruiter may impact the Duke basketball staff.

Earlier this week, Rolling Meadows (Ill.) shooting guard Cameron Christie — teammate and younger brother to five-star Duke basketball target Max Christie — picked up his first scholarship offer. But the lack of more in no way implies a lack of talent. Rather, it’s telling of the fact that the 6-foot-3, 160-pound sharpshooter just concluded his freshman year of high school.

Which program reached out to the younger Christie sibling? Michigan State. And that could spell trouble for Mike Krzyzewski and his cohorts in Durham since the Spartans are arguably their top competitors for the elder Christie sibling, a 6-foot-6, 175-pound shooting guard who ranks No. 12 overall on the 247Sports 2021 Composite (rankings for Cameron’s 2023 class are not yet available).

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True, the brothers may not wind up at the same college; besides, the older one may be in the NBA by the time the younger one would arrive. That said, playing to the family’s ego via the offer to Cameron Christie can’t hurt the chances of Tom Izzo to lure Max Christie from the Chicago suburbs to East Lansing.

Considering that Cameron exhibits pretty much the same smooth stroke, graceful handles, and sharp instincts as Max, he sure seems worthy of what would be a super-early invite to become a Blue Devil as well. Just try watching Cameron’s mixtape without getting him mixed up with Max:

Obviously, Cameron Christie is more than a year away from taking official visits and likely several years away from choosing a school. Max, on the other hand, made clear in his SI blog two weeks ago that he’ll announce his decision without first naming finalists and could do so soon (definitely before his senior season starts).

The 247Sports Crystal Ball currently pegs Max Christie as a future Blue Devil. Keep in mind, though, that his only official visit to date was to Michigan State in early March. Of course, also keep in mind that Izzo and his gang now have an excuse to dial up the Christie household twice as often.

With all that in mind, Coach K & Co. might as well establish some type of bond with Cameron Christie, if they haven’t already. Here’s a fact: Cameron Crazies would love his first name.

What the Duke basketball offer sheet looks like right now

No Duke basketball offers are yet on the table to 2023 prospects, per 247Sports; in fact, none are out to the 2022 class either.

As for 2021, the Blue Devils await answers from Christie and six other five-stars: Briarcrest Christian (Tenn.) point guard Kennedy Chandler, Paul VI Catholic (Va.) shooting guard Trevor Keels, The Patrick School (N.J.) small forward Jonathan Kuminga, Hamilton (Wis.) small forward Patrick Baldwin Jr., O’Dea (Wash.) power forward Paolo Banchero, and Andrews Osborne (Ohio) center Charles Bediako.

Duke already boasts one 2021 commit in Archbishop Stepinac (N.Y.) five-star small forward AJ Griffin.

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