An extended dead period is sure to impact Duke basketball recruiting races.
Already, 64 of the top 100 prospects on the 247Sports 2021 Composite have announced where they’ll head after their upcoming senior seasons. That’s about twice the amount from this same juncture in recent recruiting cycles. And this means, of course, that the Duke basketball coaches are quickly running out of quality backup options.
To be fair, though, Mike Krzyzewski and his assistants might not need to activate a single Plan B. After all, despite the record pace of early commitments among the top 100, the Blue Devils still boast the only two top 10 pledges from the class in five-star forwards AJ Griffin (No. 6) and Paolo Banchero (No. 3).
In other words, they’ve made out just swell thus far.
That said, in a matter of only weeks or maybe even days, Duke may now stand to find out the decisions from a bulk of its four remaining undecided targets, all top 25 five-stars: center Charles Bediako (No. 23), guard Trevor Keels (No. 16), plus forwards Caleb Houstan (No. 8) and Patrick Baldwin Jr. (No. 1).
Why so soon? Well, because of a decision by the NCAA on Wednesday, the 2021 recruiting game is now likely to suddenly speed up even further.
See, by again extending the recruiting dead period, this time from Sept. 30 through Dec. 31, the NCAA has squashed any lingering hopes for in-person visits this fall (evidently, complimentary game tickets for recruits will also be a no-no until at least the end of 2020, yet the mere existence of tickets, in general, might be out of the question this entire season).
As a result, a chunk of those with plans to get their decisions out of the way before November’s early signing period could figure that they might as well just go ahead and do so now. Granted, some will seek the increased roster clarity and heightened attention that comes with holding off until spring, but it certainly doesn’t seem as if that count will be nearly as high as usual.
The two prime candidates to now quickly become Duke basketball pledges
Based on their past comments about wanting to see if they could take fall visits before choosing a college, in addition to their recent hints at accelerating their decisions, Keels and Baldwin Jr. — who both took unofficial visits to Duke last season — could both come off the board within the coming month.
On that note, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the staff in Durham is already working on scheduling a final virtual visit with each in hopes of sealing the deals.
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If the 247Sports Crystal Ball proves accurate for both Trevor Keels and Patrick Baldwin Jr., then the finishing touches on their recruitments could translate into the Blue Devils’ 2021 haul being practically complete — not to mention undeniably exquisite — before the 2020-21 season even tips off.
On the other hand, should those Crystal Ball predictions turn out to be duds, then Coach K & Co. might soon be left scrambling just to snag a few significantly less talented options.
Either way, with AJ Griffin and Paolo Banchero already in tow, it’d definitely look quite silly for any Duke basketball supporter to sulk for one second about the program’s coming attractions.
Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more on the Blue Devils’ 2021 efforts plus other Duke basketball recruiting news and views.