2021 Men's Basketball Recruiting Thread

[fuse]

Great get for Kenny Blakeney at Howard:

https://collegebasketball.nbcsports...mpression=true

[TywinBlue]

Max Christie just committed to Michigan State.

This changes things.

Discuss.

[Jaks19]

Maybe Duke feels good about Keels or the possibility of Houstan reclassifying to 2021

[JasonEvans]

Maybe Duke feels good about Keels or the possibility of Houstan reclassifying to 2021

Alternately, given the current Duke roster and the likelihood of various pro decisions (none of our wings have a clear and obvious NBA draft decision in 2021), Christie may have decided things could be crowded in Durham.

[Jaks19]

Christie didn't even include Duke in his final 5 when he announced for Mich State

[DavidBenAkiva]

Alternately, given the current Duke roster and the likelihood of various pro decisions (none of our wings have a clear and obvious NBA draft decision in 2021), Christie may have decided things could be crowded in Durham.

Such is life! Duke will be fine and has many great options for 2021 and beyond. In addition to the possibility of DJ Steward and Joey Baker (wings if not SG's per se), there's the off chance that Wendell Moore is still on the roster or that Duke adds Trevor Keels, the French kid Ousmane Dieng, or potential reclass candidate Caleb Houstan. Christie appears to be a talented kid and bright. I hope he does well. But I feel confident that Duke will have great options at the guard/wing spot.

[JasonEvans]

If Roach is not OAD (which is certainly quite possible), then Keels may be a great option as he and Roach played their high school ball together and clearly get along.

[scottdude8]

This is sort of humorous... the headline of the Detroit Free Press' story on Christie is "Max Christie Picks Michigan State over Duke", even though in the article proper they reluctantly mention "He didn't mention Duke in his final group". This seems to be part of a larger pattern we've seen with Duke and the transfer market: players are hyping up their interest in Duke (and vice-versa) to get some media coverage. Michigan fans seem to think that's more or less what Josh Christopher did with the Wolverines before committing to Arizona State, so this may be a new trend.

FWIW, this commitment seemed to be the next domino after Emoni Bates' commitment. With the OAD situation up in the air, there's speculation that Bates might reclassify and go to East Lansing in 2021, rather than 2022. Given a lot of chatter about a friendship between the two, and them potentially wanting to play together (apologies for not being able to find a link, but I know this was discussed in the local Michigan press over the past few weeks), this isn't all that surprising.

Side note: I love this nugget from the same FREEP article:

Christie is a consensus top 20 recruit — top 15 by 247 Sports and Rivals — and the nation's top shooting guard according to 247. But he doesn't necessarily look like a one-and-done kid, which is another win for MSU.

That's some shocking naivety about the current landscape of OADs 5* caliber recruits... although considering how few of them Izzo and MSU get relative to other programs, maybe there's a reason why this beat writer seems out of the loop As we all know, the probability for any Top 10-20 guy nowadays is for them to go the OAD route barring something unusual. Made me chuckle.

[Jaks19]

Anyway, it's move on to the next

[mattman91]

Alternately, given the current Duke roster and the likelihood of various pro decisions (none of our wings have a clear and obvious NBA draft decision in 2021), Christie may have decided things could be crowded in Durham.

There is also the possibility that we have no college basketball season this year and Steward wants to come back for the 2021-22 season. So many unknowns at this point.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Ross Homan wrote a long scouting report on Patrick Baldwin, Jr. and other prospects for the Stepien that is worth a read. Homan imagines what he might have seen from Baldwin, Jr. during a summer EYBL season that never was. In 2019, Homan saw plenty of the talented shooter from Wisconsin, along with his Phenom U teammates and future Blue Devils Jalen Johnson and Jaemyn Brakefield. That group also featured incoming Virgina PG Reece Beekman. It was a loaded group with multiple high major prospects that have an NBA future. And Baldwin, Jr., got kind of lost in the shuffle. He was a spot-up shooter or complementary playmaker to Johnson and Beekman last summer. Homan wonders what would Baldwin look like as the primary playmaker?

As it turns out, Baldwin had the ball in his hands a lot during the high school season. Homan watched the tape to see what Baldwin did with all that attention and opportunity.

Homan came into the experience with a belief that Baldwin had great shooting for his size and was a sure-fire NBA player with complementary star potential. He left the experience with the belief that Baldwin, Jr. has Jayson Tatum/Klay Thompson potential as a volume scorer, matchup nightmare, and a guy that make plays for himself and teammates. The ceiling is high.

I hope that Baldwin, Jr. sees Duke as a favorable place to play and grow. He's a considerable talent.

[SupaDave]

Sean Pedulla - remember that name.

He's been balling but mostly under the radar.

After a stout junior season, he's about to be granted a couple extra stars.

This kid is about to get a slew of offers.

[jaywilliams22]

Ross Homan wrote a long scouting report on Patrick Baldwin, Jr. and other prospects for the Stepien that is worth a read. Homan imagines what he might have seen from Baldwin, Jr. during a summer EYBL season that never was. In 2019, Homan saw plenty of the talented shooter from Wisconsin, along with his Phenom U teammates and future Blue Devils Jalen Johnson and Jaemyn Brakefield. That group also featured incoming Virgina PG Reece Beekman. It was a loaded group with multiple high major prospects that have an NBA future. And Baldwin, Jr., got kind of lost in the shuffle. He was a spot-up shooter or complementary playmaker to Johnson and Beekman last summer. Homan wonders what would Baldwin look like as the primary playmaker?

As it turns out, Baldwin had the ball in his hands a lot during the high school season. Homan watched the tape to see what Baldwin did with all that attention and opportunity.

Homan came into the experience with a belief that Baldwin had great shooting for his size and was a sure-fire NBA player with complementary star potential. He left the experience with the belief that Baldwin, Jr. has Jayson Tatum/Klay Thompson potential as a volume scorer, matchup nightmare, and a guy that make plays for himself and teammates. The ceiling is high.

I hope that Baldwin, Jr. sees Duke as a favorable place to play and grow. He's a considerable talent.

I really hope we get a chance to see Baldwin Jr. & AJ Griffin play together. They have a chance to go 1-2 in the draft.

[Jaks19]

Baldwin and Griffin would be great headliners for the class for sure. I do feel that Duke needs to find depth in maybe a 3 or 4 star kind of like with JGold where the player can serve a role and stick around for a while.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Baldwin and Griffin would be great headliners for the class for sure. I do feel that Duke needs to find depth in maybe a 3 or 4 star kind of like with JGold where the player can serve a role and stick around for a while.

Joey Baker, Jaemyn Brakefield, Henry Coleman, and Mark Williams are a nice starting point, and there's the possibility of Jeremy Roach and DJ Steward sticking around, too. It's also a small possibility that Matthew Hurt or Wendell Moore will still be around, too.

I think Duke will also target another multi-year guard and hopefully a center for the Class of 2021 as the depth at lead/off guard and in the post is a little thin compared the wings/forward spots.

[Truth&Justise]

Sean Pedulla - remember that name.

He's been balling but mostly under the radar.

After a stout junior season, he's about to be granted a couple extra stars.

This kid is about to get a slew of offers.

I'm excited for this thread to be about basketball recruiting again, but isn't Pedulla a 2021 recruit, not 2020?

[ChillinDuke]

Sean Pedulla - remember that name.

He's been balling but mostly under the radar.

After a stout junior season, he's about to be granted a couple extra stars.

This kid is about to get a slew of offers.

He looks fairly good, but I didn't come away salivating. I also have no sense for the level of competition.

If it weren't for your taking the time to post and your general positivity surrounding him, I would assume this guy is just another reasonably good high school basketball player with no realistic shot at going to Duke.

- Chillin

[pfrduke]

Great get for Kenny Blakeney at Howard:

https://collegebasketball.nbcsports...mpression=true

Kenny and Makur were both (separately) interviewed on ESPN's Daily podcast this morning - each gives a good interview.

[JasonEvans]

I have moved the Sean Pedulla posts from the 2020 thread to this one.

Sean tweeted yesterday that he got offers from St. Louis and Va Tech, so it is clear that bigger programs are starting to pay more attention to him. No indication thus far that Duke is interested.

[SupaDave]

I have moved the Sean Pedulla posts from the 2020 thread to this one.

Sean tweeted yesterday that he got offers from St. Louis and Va Tech, so it is clear that bigger programs are starting to pay more attention to him. No indication thus far that Duke is interested.

Thanks J! And yes, he's about to be on the rise. Not sure if Duke would want him just yet but he is so solid. Reminds me of a Kyle Singler with Dave McClure well roundedness.