Duke basketball target set to name finalists, decision may soon follow

Will Duke basketball advance to the final round of the Trevor Keels battle?

By providing a service many recruits use to unveil lists and decisions on social media, Joe Tipton of Tipton Edits is an insider by trade. So when he noted on Sunday to “soon” expect a “top three” from Paul VI (Va.) shooting guard Trevor Keels, who sits No. 15 on the 247Sports 2021 Composite and has held a Duke basketball offer since December, one might guess the tweet is in the works.

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A safe bet is Keels will name the trio by week’s end, if not sooner. Also, seeing that such brief lists typically signal a final pick is close at hand — not to mention that this coming list of three is not a cutdown from a longer one — it now looks as if the 6-foot-5, 210-pound sharpshooter intends to be a fall signee; that said, his camp has been relatively mum from Day One.

Despite the secrecy, the perceived frontrunners for Keels, a former backcourt teammate of now-freshman Blue Devil point guard Jeremy Roach, appear to be Duke, Villanova, and Virginia. Whether those are indeed the three favorites of the high-IQ playmaker — who would also make for a reliable secondary ballhandler at the college level — well, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Roughly two dozen programs have extended an offer to Keels. Other notable contenders to wind up among his three finalists are North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio State, and Louisville (or at least those are the ones that Tipton, who spoke to Keels directly, pointed out alongside Duke, Virginia, and Villanova). Meanwhile, the 247Sports Crystal Ball for the 17-year-old remains empty.

Duke basketball’s other 2021 recruiting efforts

Mike Krzyzewski and his staff have landed two seniors in Archbishop Stepinac (N.Y.) small forward AJ Griffin and O’Dea (Wash.) power forward Paolo Banchero (2021’s only top 10 recruits off the board). They’re also still pursuing three more five-stars: Hamilton (Wis.) small forward Patrick Baldwin Jr., Montverde (Fla.) small forward Caleb Houstan, and IMG (Fla.) center Charles Bediako.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more on Trevor Keels plus other Duke basketball recruiting news and views.