Duke basketball now owns Crystal Ball leads for two premier small forwards.
Sunrise Christian (Kan.) small forward Mark Mitchell and Montverde (Fla.) small forward Dariq Whitehead would be among the all-time forward duos to team up in the same Duke basketball class. That said, neither five-star recruit — Mitchell at No. 12 and Whitehead at No. 6 on the 247Sports 2022 Composite — has committed to play for successor-in-waiting Jon Scheyer.
Not yet, anyway.
Whitehead will announce his decision on Sunday. And with less than 24 hours to go, still all eight 247Sports Crystal Ball picks forecast the 6-foot-8, 205-pound versatile athlete to choose Duke.
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Meanwhile, Mitchell’s Crystal Ball had sat empty until the first prediction came in on Friday. Now, Scheyer appears in the driver’s seat for this 6-foot-8, 205-pound sensation as well.
Duke basketball bias in the Crystal Ball?
Sure, the pick was from Blue Devil expert Adam Rowe, perhaps a sign of wishful thinking. On the other hand, it might signal significant intel; after all, a “high” confidence level accompanies the prognostication, even though Mitchell has said his recruitment is likely to last until winter after more official visits in the fall.
Speaking of official visits, Mitchell has taken four thus far, all in June: to UCLA, Missouri, Kansas, and then Duke.
This week, Scheyer and his gang picked up their first 2022 pledge in Wilbraham & Monson (Mass.) four-star power forward Kyle Filipowski.
The Blue Devils still have offers on the table to Mitchell and Whitehead, of course, in addition to four others in the class: La Lumiere (Ind.) four-star point guard JJ Starling, Coppell (Texas) four-star combo guard Anthony Black, Yorkville Christian (Ill.) three-star shooting guard Jaden Schutt, and Westtown (Pa.) five-star center Dereck Lively.