Duke basketball: Has Patrick Baldwin Jr. cut his list?

It seems Duke basketball is still alive in the race for Patrick Baldwin Jr.

In May, coveted Duke basketball recruiting target Patrick Baldwin Jr., a smooth small forward who recently fell to No. 3 overall on the 247Sports 2021 Composite, narrowed his list of suitors to 10: Duke, Georgetown, Kentucky, Michigan, Milwaukee, North Carolina, Northwestern, UCLA, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Fast forward to Wednesday.

The Hamilton (Wis.) senior has denied a report on social media from an unnamed “source” claiming he is now only considering Northwestern, where former Blue Devil Chris Collins is the head coach, and Milwaukee, where his father, Pat Baldwin, is at the helm.

With the following tweet, Baldwin Jr. made clear that the remaining field does not consist of only those two schools:

Minutes after Baldwin Jr. shut down the rumor, Stock Risers recruiting insider Jake Weingarten tweeted that he had just spoken with the 6-foot-10, 205-pound five-star. According to Weingarten, Baldwin Jr. is in fact now down to eight contenders for his sharpshooting services: Duke, Georgetown, Kentucky, Michigan, Milwaukee, North Carolina, Northwestern, and UCLA.

This, of course, implies Virginia and Wisconsin are no longer potential destinations. So in essence, Baldwin Jr. has trimmed his list a smidge.

Last week, Baldwin Jr. suffered a seemingly major ankle injury — his coach called it a dislocation — in what was the second game of his final prep season. This followed his 43-point masked performance in the opener:

Per a Wednesday tweet from Jason Jordan of SI, the injury is likely to keep him out of action for only two or three months. And here’s what Baldwin Jr. told Jordan about the impact of the injury beyond his return:

“But after I recover, this shouldn’t ever affect me long term, which is great.”

Baldwin Jr. has not given a decisive timeline for picking a winner. Meanwhile, the 247Sports Crystal Ball continues to unanimously favor the Blue Devils.

The 2021 Duke basketball recruiting efforts beyond Patrick Baldwin Jr.

On top of Patrick Baldwin Jr., the staff in Durham is still in pursuit of Paul VI (Va.) shooting guard Trevor Keels, a five-star who ranks No. 17 and is down to three finalists (Duke, Villanova, Virginia), plus IMG Academy (Fla.) center Charles Bediako, a five-star who ranks No. 24 and is down to five (Alabama, Duke, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas).

The Duke Blue Devils already boast two 2021 signees in O’Dea (Wash.) power forward Paolo Banchero, a five-star who ranks No. 2, and Archbishop Stepinac (N.Y.) small forward AJ Griffin, a five-star who ranks No. 6.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more on Patrick Baldwin Jr. plus other Duke basketball recruiting news and views.