Duke basketball sees new competitor emerge for Patrick Baldwin Jr.

A new suitor has emerged for Duke basketball target Patrick Baldwin Jr.

The recruitment of five-star Patrick Baldwin Jr. takes another turn as a new landing spot has emerged for the Duke basketball target.

Baldwin Jr. is ranked as the No. 4 player in the Class of 2021, No. 1 small forward, and No. 1 player in the state of Wisconsin, according to the 247 Sports Composite Rankings.

Duke and Milwaukee have been pegged as the two favorites to land the prized prospect for months, but Rob Cassidy of Rivals thinks that another program is firmly in the mix for the services of the forward.

“Not long ago, the prevailing thought was the No. 4 prospect in the 2021 class would land in the Horizon League and play for his father at Milwaukee. These days, both Duke and Georgetown are in the thick of the race, and things seem a tad less certain than they once did,” Cassidy says.

Well, that’s certainly new.

ALSO READ: Duke trolls former rival after suspect performance

Fresh off a Big East Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance, head coach Patrick Ewing is trying to keep the positive momentum in Washington D.C. by landing the biggest recruit of his tenure.

Patrick Baldwin Jr. did trim his list of landing spots down to 10 in Duke, Georgetown, Kentucky, Michigan, Milwaukee, Northwestern, UCLA, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin. But he has not made any further cuts, and he will not make any cuts to his list prior to his commitment.

Tipton Edits said that Baldwin Jr. will not have a date set for his decision. Rather, he will just divulge the information and move on.

The 6-foot-9, 190-pound small forward is still a heavy favorite to Milwaukee, according to the 247 Sports and Rivals predictions.

Speculation mounts for Duke basketball target

As time progresses and Patrick Baldwin Jr. still has not committed to Milwaukee, where his father is the head coach, does that open up the possibility that he will choose to go elsewhere?

If Baldwin Jr. was going to play for his dad, a public commitment would be needed in order to try and lure some other prospects and transfer portal entries to the Panthers in order to try and reach the NCAA Tournament.

Meanwhile, Duke has seen sophomore forward Matthew Hurt leave Durham for the NBA Draft, opening up a massive block of minutes for a player like Baldwin Jr. to fill, should he become a Blue Devil.

ALSO READ: All signs point to Blue Devils adding guard depth

Mike Krzyzewski has already compiled a recruiting class of Paolo Banchero, Adrian Griffin Jr., and Trevor Keels as the trio has been very open and honest about their recruitment of Patrick Baldwin Jr.

Duke is also heavily involved with Top-110 recruit Jaylen Blakes out of Blair Academy (NJ).

Baldwin Jr. told Jason Jordan of Sports Illustrated in February that he was “75-percent sure” of where he was going to attend college, but still, no decision has been made public.

It’s arguably the biggest recruiting question of the offseason, and there is no timetable for when the college basketball world will have an answer.