2022 Men's Basketball Recruiting

[jimsumner]

ESPN has new '22 rankings. 4 of our boys have increased their rankings:

Lively: 1
Whitehead: 4
Filipowski: 5
Mitchell: 31
Schutt: 47

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/b.../view/espnu100

That's three top 5 players. However, this is misleading. Shaedon Sharpe graduated HS early and enrolled at UK. He is not playing this year and, like our frosh, will play the '22-'23 season. He was the near unanimous #1 player in the class, and it arguably wasn't that close. He's a stud. Because of his early enrollment, he is not included in these rankings.

Can any of them grab a defensive rebound?

[flyingdutchdevil]

Can any of them grab a defensive rebound?

It's Duke, so...no

[jimsumner]

Naismith high-school midseason watch list includes four Duke signees.


http://naismithtrophy.com/2022-jerse...team-released/

[DavidBenAkiva]

Regarding the ESPN rankings, it's interesting to see them put Mitchell at 31. That's low relative to the other services. He's 10th in the 247Sports Top 100, 11th in the Rivals150, and 15th in the 247Sports Composite. Mitchell played very well over the weekend at the Hoophall Classic and earned at least one game MVP.

He seems like a versatile player. I get the sense that he's a jack-of-all-trades type, a player that can get you a bucket from time to time but doesn't have an unguardable move per se. He can make a jumper, but it's not something he does at a high level. He's a good rebounder but not known as superb in that area. He can pass, but it's not like he's a point-forward type.

I see him as a Swiss Army Knife type of player in college, someone that does a lot of things to impact a game. I'm not sure he's going to lead the team in scoring for more than a couple of games. But he's quick, athletic, has good size and defensive versatility. I think he's going to be very good at Duke as a freshmen, a guy that can do a lot of things. I just don't see him as someone that is going to be expected to be a primary scorer. It'll be interesting to see how he fits in with Duke's other frontcourt players, Lively and Filipowski.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Regarding the ESPN rankings, it's interesting to see them put Mitchell at 31. That's low relative to the other services. He's 10th in the 247Sports Top 100, 11th in the Rivals150, and 15th in the 247Sports Composite. Mitchell played very well over the weekend at the Hoophall Classic and earned at least one game MVP.

He seems like a versatile player. I get the sense that he's a jack-of-all-trades type, a player that can get you a bucket from time to time but doesn't have an unguardable move per se. He can make a jumper, but it's not something he does at a high level. He's a good rebounder but not known as superb in that area. He can pass, but it's not like he's a point-forward type.

I see him as a Swiss Army Knife type of player in college, someone that does a lot of things to impact a game. I'm not sure he's going to lead the team in scoring for more than a couple of games. But he's quick, athletic, has good size and defensive versatility. I think he's going to be very good at Duke as a freshmen, a guy that can do a lot of things. I just don't see him as someone that is going to be expected to be a primary scorer. It'll be interesting to see how he fits in with Duke's other frontcourt players, Lively and Filipowski.

So he’s a frosh Wendell with hopefully better shooting?

[CDu]

So he’s a frosh Wendell with hopefully better shooting?

He's bigger than Moore, and not the ballhandler Moore was, and probably similarly not a great shooter. But he's probably more of a 4 than a 3/4 like Moore was. Just a pretty athletic 4.

[gam7]

I've seen updates in recent days/months on everyone from the Class of 2022, except for Jaden Schutt. Even a general GOOG search I just did shows no substantive updates on him since August 2021 (other than signing his LOI). Anyone have any info on how he's doing or what's going on with him?

[tking]

Probably also worth noting this is a very weak top of the class (partially due to reclassifications). And should probably recalibrate expectations for Lively, who's very tools-y on D but still very raw offensively...may not be a top 5 caliber guy in the average class. Absent an impact transfer PG and a shift to a more PnR heavy offense, hard to see him making a huge impact on that end of the floor, and certainly compared to the top 5 bigs Duke has recruited in the past 5-10 years.

Obviously a great class, but assuming the guys we expect to leave do so, will be a very large playmaking chasm and will be interesting how Scheyer addresses.

[flyingdutchdevil]

He's bigger than Moore, and not the ballhandler Moore was, and probably similarly not a great shooter. But he's probably more of a 4 than a 3/4 like Moore was. Just a pretty athletic 4.

Ooh. Classifying frosh Wendell as 'not a great shooter' is akin to saying durian is not that smelly of a fruit; Wendell shot 21% from 3 and 44% from 2.

I truly hope Mitchell is at least better than that...

[CDu]

Ooh. Classifying frosh Wendell as 'not a great shooter' is akin to saying durian is not that smelly of a fruit; Wendell shot 21% from 3 and 44% from 2.

I truly hope Mitchell is at least better than that...

Don't get your hopes up. Like Moore, Mitchell isn't known as a shooter. Moore shot poorly as a freshman - for a SG/SF. Mitchell isn't a SG/SF, he's a PF. I'd expect Mitchell to not shoot many 3s at all as a freshman. Think more like Lance Thomas skill set wise, with maybe more athleticism and a bit more dribbling ability.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Don't get your hopes up. Like Moore, Mitchell isn't known as a shooter. Moore shot poorly as a freshman - for a SG/SF. Mitchell isn't a SG/SF, he's a PF. I'd expect Mitchell to not shoot many 3s at all as a freshman. Think more like Lance Thomas skill set wise, with maybe more athleticism and a bit more dribbling ability.

So 3.5 years of screaming at the TV before praising his all-round glue guy skills?

Let's hope Mitchell stays that long (but something tells me not)...

[DavidBenAkiva]

Don't get your hopes up. Like Moore, Mitchell isn't known as a shooter. Moore shot poorly as a freshman - for a SG/SF. Mitchell isn't a SG/SF, he's a PF. I'd expect Mitchell to not shoot many 3s at all as a freshman. Think more like Lance Thomas skill set wise, with maybe more athleticism and a bit more dribbling ability.

My comp for Mitchell is somewhere between Amile Jefferson and Lance Thomas. He doesn't have the length that Amile had, but he's not quite as slender as Amile was as a freshman, either. Mitchell seems to do well with handling the ball, using a variety of moves to get to and finish at the rim. He also does a lot of dirty work, like cleaning up offensive boards for putbacks. I think there will be times when, as a freshmen, he may get the ball in the high post and sees a one-on-one situation, he'll use a variety of moves to get to the rim, either by backing down smaller wings or by moving quickly past slower bigs. I don't think that is going to be a play we'll see all the time from him as a freshman, maybe as often as we see AJ Griffin drive to the hoop. If left wide open, Mitchell may take a jumper. He seems to move towards the rim very well off the ball, so he could be a lob threat. I wouldn't want him taking more than 2 or 3 jumpers a game, but he can hit it from 15 feet all the way out to the 3-point line. He'd be wise to crash the offensive glass and clean up misses.

[tommy]

Regarding the ESPN rankings, it's interesting to see them put Mitchell at 31. That's low relative to the other services. He's 10th in the 247Sports Top 100, 11th in the Rivals150, and 15th in the 247Sports Composite. Mitchell played very well over the weekend at the Hoophall Classic and earned at least one game MVP.

He seems like a versatile player. I get the sense that he's a jack-of-all-trades type, a player that can get you a bucket from time to time but doesn't have an unguardable move per se. He can make a jumper, but it's not something he does at a high level. He's a good rebounder but not known as superb in that area. He can pass, but it's not like he's a point-forward type.

I see him as a Swiss Army Knife type of player in college, someone that does a lot of things to impact a game. I'm not sure he's going to lead the team in scoring for more than a couple of games. But he's quick, athletic, has good size and defensive versatility. I think he's going to be very good at Duke as a freshmen, a guy that can do a lot of things. I just don't see him as someone that is going to be expected to be a primary scorer. It'll be interesting to see how he fits in with Duke's other frontcourt players, Lively and Filipowski.

Yeah he's kinda being treated like an afterthought in this class, but much like AJ Griffin (for different reasons obviously) I think people are going to be very pleasantly surprised at the kind of impact player he can be as a freshman. I know, I know, Griffin was rated higher so in that sense he's not as much of a surprise, but still he was (and is) in Paolo's very long shadow. Mitchell is going to be a very good player, and earn significant minutes, right out of the gate.

[CDu]

My comp for Mitchell is somewhere between Amile Jefferson and Lance Thomas. He doesn't have the length that Amile had, but he's not quite as slender as Amile was as a freshman, either. Mitchell seems to do well with handling the ball, using a variety of moves to get to and finish at the rim. He also does a lot of dirty work, like cleaning up offensive boards for putbacks. I think there will be times when, as a freshmen, he may get the ball in the high post and sees a one-on-one situation, he'll use a variety of moves to get to the rim, either by backing down smaller wings or by moving quickly past slower bigs. I don't think that is going to be a play we'll see all the time from him as a freshman, maybe as often as we see AJ Griffin drive to the hoop. If left wide open, Mitchell may take a jumper. He seems to move towards the rim very well off the ball, so he could be a lob threat. I wouldn't want him taking more than 2 or 3 jumpers a game, but he can hit it from 15 feet all the way out to the 3-point line. He'd be wise to crash the offensive glass and clean up misses.

Yeah, that's not unreasonable. I think he seems bouncier than Jefferson was, and he seems to have a bit more of a jumper than Jefferson showed in high school. That's why I said Thomas, who showed a decent midrange game coming out of high school (a skill that simply never materialized at Duke). Hopefully Mitchell doesn't have nearly as long a developmental curve as Thomas wound up having.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Yeah he's kinda being treated like an afterthought in this class, but much like AJ Griffin (for different reasons obviously) I think people are going to be very pleasantly surprised at the kind of impact player he can be as a freshman. I know, I know, Griffin was rated higher so in that sense he's not as much of a surprise, but still he was (and is) in Paolo's very long shadow. Mitchell is going to be a very good player, and earn significant minutes, right out of the gate.

Depending on who leaves this year and who we can get in the transfer portal, Mitchell may have to play significant minutes...

[DavidBenAkiva]

Depending on who leaves this year and who we can get in the transfer portal, Mitchell may have to play significant minutes...

My expectation is that Jeremy Roach and Jaylen Blakes will be back next season. After that, it's going to be a whole new roster. There will be plenty of opportunity to earn minutes.

PG: Roach, Blakes
Wings: Whitehead, Schutt, Baker (?)
Forwards: Filipowski, Mitchell
Centers: Lively, Reeves (RS)

That list includes 7 players that most likely be on the roster next season with Baker being a potential eighth.

There is a chance Moore and/or Keels could be back next season, although that seems unlikely. Moore is having a rough patch post-COVID. If that extends into February, it could hurt his draft stock. I'd love to have him back for a senior year. For Keels, the shooting hasn't been great and now there is the leg injury. Does that drop his stock enough that he sees value in playing another year? Again, I'd love to have him back.

If none of Baker, Moore, or Keels return, the team will need to add players. Caleb Foster is rumored to be considering a reclass, so that's one possible addition. The transfer portal is another option. There seems to be a need for a backup big man that could play either the 4 or 5 and a guard that can shoot and moves well off the ball.

Things are a little fuzzy right now, as they tend to be in January. We'll know more in March and April.

[tommy]

My expectation is that Jeremy Roach and Jaylen Blakes will be back next season. After that, it's going to be a whole new roster. There will be plenty of opportunity to earn minutes.

PG: Roach, Blakes
Wings: Whitehead, Schutt, Baker (?)
Forwards: Filipowski, Mitchell
Centers: Lively, Reeves (RS)

That list includes 7 players that most likely be on the roster next season with Baker being a potential eighth.

There is a chance Moore and/or Keels could be back next season, although that seems unlikely. Moore is having a rough patch post-COVID. If that extends into February, it could hurt his draft stock. I'd love to have him back for a senior year. For Keels, the shooting hasn't been great and now there is the leg injury. Does that drop his stock enough that he sees value in playing another year? Again, I'd love to have him back.

If none of Baker, Moore, or Keels return, the team will need to add players. Caleb Foster is rumored to be considering a reclass, so that's one possible addition. The transfer portal is another option. There seems to be a need for a backup big man that could play either the 4 or 5 and a guard that can shoot and moves well off the ball.

Things are a little fuzzy right now, as they tend to be in January. We'll know more in March and April.

Thx. With respect to Roach returning, which I certainly hope he does, I found Caleb Foster's comment linked on the 2023 thread, interesting -- to the effect that he's talking to Scheyer about being his point guard, and that he and Scheyer will make the reclass decision together, and that some of it at least will depend on the depth chart. Translation of that could be: unclear if Roach is coming back. If he doesn't come back, I'll reclass. If he does, I won't. Maybe.

[heyman25]

Duke needs better backcourt play this season. Will Blakes and Roach be sufficient to meet the needs of next season basketball team. I am imagining the wings are skilled ballhandlers, but Duke is one injury away from it being a serious issue.

[CDu]

Duke needs better backcourt play this season. Will Blakes and Roach be sufficient to meet the needs of next season basketball team. I am imagining the wings are skilled ballhandlers, but Duke is one injury away from it being a serious issue.

That's true for almost every team though. Very few teams go multiple players deep at every position. Unless you have a system like Hamilton at FSU, you are likely to be very reliant on avoiding injuries.

If UK lost Tshiebwe, they'd be terrible. If we lost Banchero, we'd not be terribly good. Purdue without Jaden Ivey. And so on.

Most teams don't have multiple elite options at the same position, especially PG.

[devilnfla]

I've seen updates in recent days/months on everyone from the Class of 2022, except for Jaden Schutt. Even a general GOOG search I just did shows no substantive updates on him since August 2021 (other than signing his LOI). Anyone have any info on how he's doing or what's going on with him?

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Schutt has not been playing due to an injury.