Predicting the 2023 Duke basketball recruiting class

Predicted 2023 Duke basketball recruiting prize: Taylor Bowen

Last week, the Duke basketball staff joined the growing battles for two Brewster (N.H.) five-star small forwards in Matas Buzelis and Taylor Bowen, who rank No. 4 and No. 21 overall, respectively, on the 247Sports 2023 Composite. The offers came after the coaches from Durham visited the perennial prep powerhouse.

Of the two, Bowen expressed the most positive vibes about the Duke offer in the days that followed. Already, the 6-foot-9, 195-pound lightfooted wing has hinted at plans to take a trip to Blue Devil Land. Here’s what he told Dushawn London of 247Sports about the Blue Devil interest:

“Getting that offer from Duke was definitely a special offer that I’m proud of. I can’t get too high on it. I just have to continue to work…Coach Scheyer offered me and just told me he wanted to offer me a scholarship and that he can really see me playing at Duke and envisions me there.”

As detailed earlier in this article, many of Scheyer’s visions on the recruiting trail are becoming a reality thus far in his brief time as the Duke basketball head coach-in-waiting.

On the other hand, during his chat with London, Bowen also spoke highly of the suitors from Arkansas and Providence. Moreover, he suggested that he won’t likely make up his mind on a college destination until some point in his senior year of high school, meaning the Blue Devils probably have a lot of work to do before potentially sealing his commitment.

And neither the 247Sports Crystal Ball nor the Rivals FutureCast contains any predictions for the Bowen race at this juncture.

That said, if he decides to play at Duke, Bowen could be the perfect complement to the other forwards on this list due to his passionate focus on the defensive end of the floor. While speaking to London, he broke down that newfound extreme defensive pride in addition to his overall repertoire and areas for improvement:

“I really added a lot more polished skills offensively and more of a motor defensively. I feel like I can be one of the best defensive players in the country, if not the best. At the same time, offensively, I worked on being a threat with the ball in my hands getting to the rim. I think I improved my ballhandling a lot, pushing it on the break and handling it under pressure.”

Simply put, the well-spoken Rhode Island native and his 7-foot wingspan would seem to be an excellent fit in Durham, along with this next phenom.