2022 Men's Basketball Recruiting

[SavDukeGrad]

Awesome! Short and sweet! I love it! Welcome to Duke, Dereck!

[flyingdutchdevil]

...that Duke and Kentucky combine for 6 of the top 8 RSCI recruits.

Lively, Whitehead, and Filipowski are 2, 5, and 8. Sharpe, Livingston, and Wallace (a heavy UK lean) are 1, 6, and 7.

Nuts.

[jimsumner]

...that Duke and Kentucky combine for 6 of the top 8 RSCI recruits.

Lively, Whitehead, and Filipowski are 2, 5, and 8. Sharpe, Livingston, and Wallace (a heavy UK lean) are 1, 6, and 7.

Nuts.

And presumed Duke lean Mark Mitchell checks in at 13.

[JasonEvans]

I wrote the below post on August 20th... feeling pretty good about my analysis right now

There have been a flurry of crystal ball picks in the past day for C Adem Bona to head to Kentucky. Bona is a top 15ish big man and a big time recruit. He was offered by Kentucky and almost instantly folks started projecting he would go there.

Why should Duke fans care?

Well, Duke and Kentucky are considered the front-runners for Derek Lively, the #1 center (and perhaps #1 prospects) in the 2022 class. Bona and Lively are reasonably similar players, explosive leapers who protect the rim and rebound with some offensive game but a little bit raw on that end. Bona is sorta Lively-lite, a little bit smaller and a little bit less skilled.

Unless you are projecting Bona as a multi-year player, bringing him and Lively in at the same time doesn't really work. So, could this be a sign that Kentucky is a little less confident about getting Lively? Hmmmmmm.

[G man]

I find it amazing how much the brotherhood resonates with these recruits. It was a great idea.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I find it amazing how much the brotherhood resonates with these recruits. It was a great idea.

Much better than Hubert's UNC sisterhood of the traveling Hansboroughs.

[DavidBenAkiva]

A couple of interesting developments this evening in the Dereck Lively III recruitment.

First, Lively posted a video to Instagram. That's not surprising as he does that from time to time. If you pay attention, one and only one college coach appears at the beginning of the video. See if you can spot him.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSpn7onH6XE/

The word on the street (the street being the internet) has been that Lively was looking at UK with Duke and other programs running behind. Lo and behold, the Wildcats extended an offer to the #2 center prospect in the Class of 2022, Adam Bona. Interesting development, that.

Next, a pair of Duke commits, Dariq Whitehead and Kyle Filipowski, were hanging out on Instagram Live with a pair of Cameron Crazies. The Crazies asked the commits who they are recruiting. Well, you'll have to see their answer.

https://twitter.com/UpdateDuke/statu...99819645595652

Very interesting...

Jason, you got me curious about one of my earlier posts. Here's what I wrote on August 17th. The signs were there! Lively put HCIW in his hype video. It was a big clue.

I was chatting with someone on reddit last night, and he said that he knew Lively was going to commit to Duke when a younger coworker in his 20's looked at his twitter and Instagram accounts and noticed that Lively followed Whitehead and Filipowski but not recent Kentucky commits like Chris Livingston and Shaedon Sharpe.

Looking at the recent follows for Mitchell and Starling, Duke might be in good shape for both.

[superdave]

Is Scheyer adding any new targets for Class of 2022 based on who has committed so far? I would think a PG, even if a four year reserve, would be a good possibility.

[scottdude8]

Is Scheyer adding any new targets for Class of 2022 based on who has committed so far? I would think a PG, even if a four year reserve, would be a good possibility.

With Jaylen Blakes already in the fold as a freshman and seemingly fitting that mold, why would that be needed? Especially with Caleb Foster coming in 2023...

If anything, I think depth up front behind our incoming freshman twin towers would be the next priority (after Mitchell, of course), but it may be that Scheyer views the transfer portal as a better resource for that. In an ideal world I'd love to see us get a four-year "project" type big along with a transfer portal guy (the former for longer term depth, the latter for immediate depth), but I trust the HCIW

[superdave]

With Jaylen Blakes already in the fold as a freshman and seemingly fitting that mold, why would that be needed? Especially with Caleb Foster coming in 2023...

If anything, I think depth up front behind our incoming freshman twin towers would be the next priority (after Mitchell, of course), but it may be that Scheyer views the transfer portal as a better resource for that. In an ideal world I'd love to see us get a four-year "project" type big along with a transfer portal guy (the former for longer term depth, the latter for immediate depth), but I trust the HCIW

You are right - I was blanking on Blakes.

So you think a four year big will be the likely additional target?

[DavidBenAkiva]

Assuming Duke and the coaching staff lands Mitchell and Starling, I think the only conceivable additions would be a long-term big a la Vrankovic or Justin Robinson, a player more in the physical mold of Javin DeLaurier (not ranked in the Top 50, just someone that is expected to be a multi-position big that can defend, get rebounds, etc.). That player could be a transfer if the staff feels the need to add experience. I suppose there could be both a combo F/C type as a transfer and then a bench player as a freshman.

It seems like the bulk of the recruiting for the Class of 2022 could be wrapped up by Halloween.

[azzefkram]

A back-up big would be nice but I think 4 year guys are going to be harder and harder to find. Ok, maybe not find, but keep. It seems like a really big ask to be a practice player for 2+ years for a maybe.

[scottdude8]

You are right - I was blanking on Blakes.

So you think a four year big will be the likely additional target?

Assuming Duke and the coaching staff lands Mitchell and Starling, I think the only conceivable additions would be a long-term big a la Vrankovic or Justin Robinson, a player more in the physical mold of Javin DeLaurier (not ranked in the Top 50, just someone that is expected to be a multi-position big that can defend, get rebounds, etc.). That player could be a transfer if the staff feels the need to add experience. I suppose there could be both a combo F/C type as a transfer and then a bench player as a freshman.

It seems like the bulk of the recruiting for the Class of 2022 could be wrapped up by Halloween.

A back-up big would be nice but I think 4 year guys are going to be harder and harder to find. Ok, maybe not find, but keep. It seems like a really big ask to be a practice player for 2+ years for a maybe.

I have NO inside information, just to clarify, but logically I think that's what makes the most sense. A Vrankovic type is a perfect example: someone who knows their role will be limited unless they really improve, but can be called upon to be a serviceable ACC player for 5-10 mpg as an upper classman in a pinch. In a perfect world we'd find a Jordan Goldwire type in a 6-foot-9 body, or, more likely, someone who has at least a chance of becoming that type of player. This seems like the place for the staff to go outside the "Top 100" recruits to try to find a potential diamond in the rough that they can sell on the Duke experience/education (not to mention the increased potential NIL income as a Duke bench player compared to a mid-major starter). That's obviously a lot of constraints, but with the way scholarships turn over nowadays I don't think taking a chance with our 13th scholarship on a guy like that is problematic.

[cato]

A back-up big would be nice but I think 4 year guys are going to be harder and harder to find. Ok, maybe not find, but keep. It seems like a really big ask to be a practice player for 2+ years for a maybe.

Indeed. And the “maybe” at the end of the 2 years is quite possibly a long shot. K has been bringing in top flight talent every year, without regard to “recruiting over” a player on the team. If Jon continues this trend, which looks like a possibility given the current state of things, it will be a very, very narrow path to recruiting and then retaining the classic college player (and Duke in the early/middle years of K) who spends two/three years as a rarely used sub and then develops into a quality ACC player by their senior year.

[DavidBenAkiva]

If you are into this sort of thing, Andrew Slater gave a strongly suggestive hint that Kentucky's main center recruit may be looking to UCLA. Having missed on Dereck Lively, the angst from BBN might be a bit piercing should this come to pass.

https://twitter.com/Andrew__Slater/s...oard-101614%2F

[UrinalCake]

Jon's strategy (which was K's strategy) is to identify his targets, focus in on them and tell them they are a priority from the start. Calipari's strategy is to offer everybody in the top 25 and take whoever commits first. Recent results suggest that recruits prefer Jon's method of connecting with them and putting a plan in place for how the individual players and the team as a whole would fit together.

[heyman25]

This is a question for insiders is Keenan Worthington a possible contributor to the front court?
https://goduke.com/sports/mens-baske...thington/17229
High School was I believe the same school that graduated Luol Deng.
6'9 224 Good size.

[scottdude8]

This is a question for insiders is Keenan Worthington a possible contributor to the front court?
https://goduke.com/sports/mens-baske...thington/17229
High School was I believe the same school that graduated Luol Deng.
6'9 224 Good size.

I love the kid, but I'm pretty sure Keenan is a walk-on for a reason... I can't seem to find any information to indicate that he was recruited or offered a scholarship by any other NCAA program. That said, he was a "preferred" walk on, which means the school did actively recruit him to come to campus as a walk on. This means on the scale of "former manager who earns walk-on status after working his butt off for three years as a senior" to "Justin Robinson", Worthington probably is slightly closer to JRob on the scale, but not by much.

Long story short, it would be a major shock if Keenan plays non-garbage time minutes this year, let alone contribute to the front court. As a RS senior down the line, who knows?

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I have NO inside information, just to clarify, but logically I think that's what makes the most sense. A Vrankovic type is a perfect example: someone who knows their role will be limited unless they really improve, but can be called upon to be a serviceable ACC player for 5-10 mpg as an upper classman in a pinch. In a perfect world we'd find a Jordan Goldwire type in a 6-foot-9 body, or, more likely, someone who has at least a chance of becoming that type of player. This seems like the place for the staff to go outside the "Top 100" recruits to try to find a potential diamond in the rough that they can sell on the Duke experience/education (not to mention the increased potential NIL income as a Duke bench player compared to a mid-major starter). That's obviously a lot of constraints, but with the way scholarships turn over nowadays I don't think taking a chance with our 13th scholarship on a guy like that is problematic.

Interestingly, Filipowski's twin Matt kind of fits this bill - it seems like he is being recruited mainly by mid-majors. I have not heard his name mentioned so I am assuming that a) he wants to go somewhere where he is more likely to get PT and/or b) he wants to chart his own course from his brother.

[dukelifer]

I love the kid, but I'm pretty sure Keenan is a walk-on for a reason... I can't seem to find any information to indicate that he was recruited or offered a scholarship by any other NCAA program. That said, he was a "preferred" walk on, which means the school did actively recruit him to come to campus as a walk on. This means on the scale of "former manager who earns walk-on status after working his butt off for three years as a senior" to "Justin Robinson", Worthington probably is slightly closer to JRob on the scale, but not by much.

Long story short, it would be a major shock if Keenan plays non-garbage time minutes this year, let alone contribute to the front court. As a RS senior down the line, who knows?

Based on the summer scrimmage- Keenan may be ready for a break out season- he may play a few minutes at the end of game. But he did look very good in the scrimmages.