Duke basketball: Four-star forward commits to rival ACC program

A Duke basketball recruiting target has committed to a conference rival. 

The Duke basketball program was a finalist for a four-star recruit that flew extremely under the radar.

However, the Blue Devils were never truly in the race for Taylor Bowen, the No. 31 player in the Class of 2023, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Bowen, a 6-foot-9 power forward, announced his decision to commit to the Florida State Seminoles on CBSSports HQ on Saturday afternoon over his other five finalists; Duke, Iowa, Providence, LSU, and Vermont.

The Blue Devils offered in October 2021 and seemed quite interested in the Brewster Academy (N.H.) standout before landing multiple commitments from players in the class that play the same position as Bowen.

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Florida State only offered the heavily recruited target on April 25.

“It was great to get an offer from Duke, but I think they backed off a little bit, obviously, when you look at who they’re recruiting and who they’ve got in that class,” Bowen told Travis Graf of Rivals in April.

“At the time, it felt good to get that offer from Coach Scheyer. Knowing that a school like that wanted me and offered me a scholarship was major.”

Duke currently has the top ranked recruiting class in 2023, according to 247Sports, with five-star power forward Mackenzie Mgbacko, five-star power forward Sean Stewart, five-star point guard Caleb Foster, and five-star shooting guard Jared McCain.

Duke basketball trying to add to 2023 recruiting class

Jon Scheyer is still trying to complete his haul in the 2023 market as the Blue Devils remain involved with four-star center JP Estrella, ironically another Brewster Academy standout, and four-star power forward Xavier Booker.

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Both JP Estrella and Xavier Booker have been extended offers by Duke recently this summer and are shooting up many recruiting boards throughout the country.

Neither have provided a timeline on a possible commitment date.