Overshadowed Duke basketball signee might be hitting growth spurt

Is a Duke basketball prize at small forward sprouting into a power forward?

The Duke basketball fan-hype about Archbishop Stepinac (N.Y.) small forward AJ Griffin, who ranks No. 6 overall on the 247Sports 2021 Composite, isn’t on the same level as the hysteria over the program’s other signee in the class, O’Dea (Wash.) power forward Paolo Banchero, who ranks No. 3.

Whatever the reason, be it the minuscule gap between the two five-stars’ rankings or perhaps the fact that Banchero’s pledge is much more recent than Griffin’s and was considerably more unexpected, googling their names proves the recent articles about Banchero dwarf those about Griffin.

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But an article at the start of the Nov. 11-18 early signing period, which began with signatures from both Duke commits, suggests Griffin has made up ground on the 6-foot-9, 235-pound Banchero in the size department.

In a feature story for NJ.com, New York-based insider Adam Zagoria, who has kept an ear to the ground in Griffin’s prep development, referred to the 17-year-old as a 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward.

Consider that at the time of Griffin’s pledge to the Blue Devils last November, 247Sports listed him as a mere 6-foot-6, 195-pound forward. Then for the past six months or so, he’s appeared on most sites as a 6-foot-7, 200-pound forward.

In other words, one could now argue that the chiseled Griffin — the son of former Seton Hall basketball legend and current Toronto Raptors lead assistant Adrian Griffin — is on track to play plenty of power forward in Durham with Banchero holding down the five-spot.

Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski basically hinted as much after finally being allowed to speak publicly about New York’s top high school senior now that the recruit has inked his National Letter of Intent:

“AJ committed to us a long time ago. It’s been a dream of his to be a Blue Devil, and it’s a dream of ours to have him in our program. He’s an outstanding basketball player that is also an elite-level athlete. He defies one position, and physically, he’s ready to play right away. AJ is a very strong player, he’s fun to play with, and we’re excited to have him and his family in our program.”

Who else could soon sign on as a future Duke basketball player?

Three more 2021 five-stars on the Duke recruiting radar are weighing decisions and have named finalists but won’t necessarily make up their minds by the last day of the early signing period.

One target is IMG (Fla.) center Charles Bediako, who ranks No. 23 overall and is still predominantly seen as an eventual Alabama commit. As for the others, all the 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions for Paul VI (Va.) shooting guard Trevor Keels and Hamilton (Wis.) small forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. — who rank No. 16 and No. 1, respectively — continue showing Duke as the favorite.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more Duke basketball recruiting news and views.