Duke basketball: Top five reasons for Coach K’s sudden recruiting slump
By Matt Giles
Why haven’t the Duke basketball recruiters had a hot streak since the fall?
Relative to recent years, the Duke basketball recruiting landscape is in the midst of a drought. More than eight months have passed since the last commitment from a high school talent. This week, a top 2021 target — once a presumed future Blue Devil — pledged allegiance to a program that has lost countless five-star battles to Mike Krzyzewski and his staff the past decade (we’ll examine that here in a minute).
So what seems to be the problem? Or is there one at all? Well, comments from detractors would have the world believe that this marks the beginning of the end for the “ratface” 73-year-old. Meanwhile, ever-optimistic Dukies are likely of the opinion that the mere mention of a Krzyzewski slump is ridiculous.
OK then, which is it, a sign of dark days to come or just a coincidental stretch without pledges? Altogether, the following five factors, appearing here from least to most impactful, suggest the truth of the matter lies somewhere in between those two extremes. And Duke fans could view some of the reasons, particularly the final few, as positives.
All five are specific to the Blue Devils. In other words, the restrictions on recruiting due to current world conditions do not account for an explanation; after all, despite the ongoing inability to visit with suitors in person, 36 of the top 100 prospects on the 247Sports 2021 Composite are already off the board. Now, let’s begin this five-part look at why Duke boasts only one of those…