3 Duke basketball recruits remain in Naismith hunt

Duke basketball signees abound among Naismith contenders.

It’s hardly a surprise that Duke basketball recruiting prizes make up 30 percent of this week’s 10 semifinalists for the 2022 Naismith Boys’ High School Player of the Year Trophy. After all, the Blue Devil representatives each rank inside the top 10 on the 247Sports 2022 Composite.

But even though these types of feats have become somewhat commonplace these days in Durham, they are all feats worth acknowledging just the same.

The three future Duke Blue Devils on the list are Westtown (Pa.) five-star center Dereck Lively II, Wilbraham & Monson (Mass.) five-star power forward Kyle Filipowski, and Montverde (Fla.) five-star small forward Dariq Whitehead.

Voters will cut the list to five finalists in two weeks before revealing the winner in the first week of March.

Odds in Duke basketball’s favor

Dereck Lively II ranks No. 1 overall on the 247Sports 2022 Composite, Kyle Filipowski recently rose to No. 3, and Dariq Whitehead sits two spots behind him at No. 5. In other words, it seems any of the three has a legit shot to land among the finalists and take home the hardware in the end.

ALSO READ: 4 fantastic facts about Duke signee Dariq Whitehead

Three Blue Devils have received the award since its inception in 1987: RJ Barrett in 2018, Austin Rivers in 2011, and Shane Battier in 1997.

Whitehead, Filipowski, and Lively will arrive in Durham for next season alongside at least the program’s three other pledges to date: Sunrise Christian (Kan.) five-star small forward Mark Mitchell, Yorkville Christian (Ill.) four-star shooting guard Jaden Schutt, and Oak Hill (Va.) three-star center Christian Reeves.

As one would expect, Duke’s haul holds the outright lead on the 247Sports 2022 Team Rankings, and it’s unlikely that’ll change.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more on the future Blue Devils’ Naismith chase, plus other Duke basketball recruiting news and views.