All signs are still indicating that former Wisconsin Badgers guard John Blackwell is eying the Duke Blue Devils more favorably than almost any other program in the country.
That undoubtedly includes the UCLA Bruins, who have suddenly expressed interest in the elite transfer portal target, despite the fact that he's in Los Angeles, visiting the Bruins.
Blue Devils fans don't even need to sweat the fact that Blackwell posted a picture while at UCLA, especially since all he shared was a little (and I mean little) gift basket in his hotel room with UCLA set as the location.
Not to mention the fact that he deleted the picture almost immediately, preventing most people from ever seeing his post to begin with.
John Blackwell hunt seems to truly be between Duke and Illinois
The Blue Devils jumped to the front of Blackwell's recruitment seemingly right out of the gates, becoming one of the frontrunners to land his commitment shortly after he had officially entered the portal.
However, while Duke doesn't have to worry about the Bruins, another Big Ten team has made its presence known in the Blackwell recruiting hunt: the Illinois Fighting Illini.
John Blackwell posted this and then deleted it shortly after 👀 #WeWantBlackwell pic.twitter.com/woIXVryMqf
— Bruin Coverage (@bruincvrge) April 14, 2026
Nearly every recruiting expert in the country is split between the Illini or the Blue Devils earning Blackwell's commitment, even though there is still a lot of time left until the elite guard has to actually make his decision.
Earlier this week, Blackwell shared that he was down to six schools: Duke, Illinois, Alabama, Arizona, Louisville, and UCLA, and set his decision day as May 4, one week before the NBA Draft.
In fact, according to On3's recruiting profile for Blackwell, Illinois and Duke are the only programs to have actually extended him an offer so far. The Fighting Illini hold a 53.3 percent chance to land him and the Blue Devils are close behind with 46.7 percent odds.
While Duke and head coach Jon Scheyer missed out on landing Flory Bidunga, there is no need to hit the panic button on their effort to recruit Blackwell to Durham, especially not over an Instagram story at UCLA.
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