Duke basketball: Predicting next season’s starting lineup
By Matt Giles
Predicting Duke basketball’s starter at power forward: Paolo Banchero
A recent report from Jonathan Givony of ESPN claims that O’Dea (Wash.) power forward Paolo Banchero is now a 6-foot-11, 250-pound giant. Therefore, when taking into account the late growth spurt on top of the 18-year-old’s deep toolbox, it makes sense that Givony also bumped him to No. 1 over recent Gonzaga commit Chet Holmgren on his latest 2022 mock draft.
ALSO READ: Paolo Banchero has transformed into a sheer giant
As for the recent highlights (above) of the prized Blue Devil signee in action against other top-shelf prospects, well, plain and simple, they suggest that the Seattle native has a strong chance of becoming one of the all-time greatest one-and-done talents in Durham.
At No. 3 overall on the 247Sports 2021 Composite, Banchero’s 0.9994 composite rating is among the 10 highest in Duke basketball recruiting history.
Admittedly, a couple of the other dudes on that top 10 didn’t exactly pan out with respect to their lofty ratings. However, the bulk of them did. And in the case of Banchero, there is neither past drama to speak of nor injuries — knock on wood — that would signal any unreadiness on his part to shine at the college level.
Also, it can’t hurt that Banchero’s primary partner in crime down low as a Blue Devil looks to be a player who could become one of the program’s all-time most lethal 7-footers…