Important Duke basketball target changes announcement date

Huge Duke basketball recruiting news will come a tad earlier than expected.

Paul VI (Va.) shooting guard Trevor Keels, a multifaceted perimeter prospect who ranks No. 20 overall on the 247Sports 2021 Composite and has held a Duke basketball offer since December 2019, had intended on unveiling his college choice this Sunday.

However, per a tweet on Thursday from ESPN recruiting insider Paul Biancardi, Keels has now decided to move up the date of his announcement to Friday afternoon. Evidently, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound five-star plans to name the lucky winner on ESPN2 during a 4:30 p.m. ET semifinal game at the GEICO Nationals in Fort Myers, Fla.

The four finalists for Keels are Duke, Kentucky, Villanova, and Virginia.

Does the Duke basketball program figure to land Trevor Keels?

Currently, the 247Sports Crystal Ball still favors Duke in the Trevor Keels sweepstakes with five of the six entered predictions to date; the other pick is for Villanova.

The perceived advantage does seem to make sense given the recent news of senior guard Jordan Goldwire leaving the Blue Devils for the transfer portal. And that’s not to mention the expectation that former Paul VI five-star Jeremy Roach, who once shined alongside Keels in the backcourt, will return to Durham as a sophomore.

Plus, it’s worth noting that Keels appeared on Instagram Live late Monday night with O’Dea (Wash.) five-star power forward Paolo Banchero, who is already a 2021 Duke basketball signee. On that note, it now seems Banchero is excited to hear what Keels has to say on Friday:

https://twitter.com/Pp_doesit/status/1377678658014306306?s=20

Meanwhile, the Blue Devils also remain in the mix for two other undecided prep seniors in Hamilton (Wis.) five-star small forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. and IMG (Fla.) four-star center Charles Bediako. Neither of them has set an exact announcement date. But they too could reveal their decisions at any moment. Duke is not seen as the leader for either, though.

Right now, the 2021 Duke basketball recruiting class consists of Banchero and Archbishop Stepinac (N.Y.) five-star small forward AJ Griffin. Both are top 10 recruits.