Duke basketball: Three signs Coach K ends up with No. 1 recruit
By Matt Giles
Why Duke basketball pledge Paolo Banchero deserves No. 1: LATEST SIGN
On Saturday, Paolo Banchero put on a show at the invite-only Pangos All-American Festival in Phoenix. As the Twitter account of SLAM HS Hoops described it, the future Blue Devil “went CRAZY” while leading Team West to a 125-99 win over Team East.
https://twitter.com/SLAM_HS/status/1325268923844071424?s=20
Granted, Duke pledge AJ Griffin had an invite to be on the opposing side and might’ve helped contain Banchero, but he was unable to attend. Still, against a crew full of heralded seniors, Banchero led everyone on the court in all three of the primary statistical categories with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists; plus, he finished with only five missed shots and one turnover.
Not bad.
On Sunday, Banchero will play in the championship game against fellow five-star power forward Jabari Smith and Team South. Unfortunately, this means that he won’t have a chance to face Team Midwest, which features Chet Holmgren, a unicorn who made a No. 1 statement of his own on Saturday by tallying 19 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and five blocks, albeit in a losing effort.
Yet based on the highlights of both Banchero and Holmgren in the video below — the Banchero montage starts at the 7:15 mark — the lion probably would’ve pounced on an opportunity to trounce the unicorn. Not only is Banchero considerably brawnier than Holmgren, but he also has better vision and more explosion while not giving up much in terms of handles and shooting.
In September, 247Sports director of basketball scouting Jerry Meyer broke down the overall advantage that Banchero holds over the 7-foot, 190-pound Holmgren in his eyes:
“Holmgren has three more inches in length, but Banchero has at least 45 more pounds … I’ll take strength over length … Functional athleticism is athleticism that counts, and strength is a bigger factor than length. Making plays in traffic, scoring against contact, handling in a crowd, and securing the ball in chaos are the plays that [most] impact winning.”
Meyer continued:
“[Banchero] is more dominant physically now, will be more physically dominant in the NBA, and his skill set will translate more seamlessly to the NBA because of his functional athleticism.”
Plus, Banchero has some recent experience when it comes to dominating those who dare to look down at him on the composite rankings…