Williams may wellbe a multi-year player so getting another 7 footer in either Holmgren or Bedaiko would give us depth at center in 2021. I expect all of those guys to gain weight and strength prior to getting to the Duke campus and moreso once they are in the program. In Holmgren's case, should he choose Duke, he would need to add 30 to 40 pounds to handle DIV 1 ball.
Ask and ye shall...
Kris_Lang_Poses.jpg
Coach K on Kyle Singler - "What position does he play? ... He plays winner."
"Duke is never the underdog" - Quinn Cook
It's unclear if it means anything at the moment, but there have been a couple of Crystal Ball selections for Patrick Baldwin, Jr. in favor of Duke in the past couple of days. One of the picks came from a Chicago Bears insider that has never made a CB pick for college basketball. College basketball recruiting expert Jerry Meyer quickly followed up with another CB pick for Baldwin to Duke.
Baldwin doesn't have an official visit scheduled to my knowledge. Perhaps the NFL guy received some inside information through his Midwest connections. Baldwin's father, Patrick Sr., is the head coach at UW-Milwaukee. If i had to guess, this recruitment is going to be very low drama. The father wouldn't allow his colleagues to be played by the game. I expect that Baldwin, Jr. might commit out of the blue this spring or over the summer if he feels comfortable with choice. Here's hoping he follows his AAU teammates Jalen Johnson and Jaemyn Brakefield. Baldwin, along with AJ Griffin and a handful of others, is considered in the running for the best recruit in the class of 2021. He would be a huge get for Duke.
Recruiting site Rivals has updated their Top 150 for the Class of 2021, which comes a day after the update to the Class of 2020. It must be the update season. Rivals made no changes to its top 5 for the class, sticking with familiar faces. Duke commit AJ Griffin saw his position change, rising up 1 spot to #7 on the list.
Here's a look at a curated list of top players with a focus on Duke targets (change in parentheses, asterisk for players with an offer)
1. Jonathan Kuminga, 6'8" SF, NJ (no change)*
2. Paolo Banchero 6'9" PF (nc)*
3. Patrick Baldwin, Jr. 6'9" SF (nc)*
4. Chet Holmgren, 7'0" C (nc)
7. AJ Griffin, 6'6'" SF (+1)*
10. Kennedy Chandler, 6'0" PG (+1)*
15. Trevor Keels, 6'5" SG (+17)*
16. Max Christie, 6'5" SG (nc)*
24. Charles Bediako, 6'10" C (+29)*
The big rises for Keels and Bediako are interesting. I haven't seen them that high on other ratings. Both are in the 35-39 247Sports Composite, for example. Keels is a current teammate of Class of 2020 Commit Jeremy Roach. He is considered an elite shot maker, as is Max Christie.
I am not sure how serious the Duke staff is about Chet Holmgren, but it is clear that there has been communication in the past. He's the only one I've listed here that hasn't received an offer yet.
For those that put stock in the Crystal Ball, there have been a couple of picks for Kennedy Chandler from a pair of Duke insiders, Adam Rowe and John Watson. Chandler is considered one of the top PGs in the class of 2021. He is 6'1" and is a native of Memphis, TN. All the big-time programs are after Chandler. There has been some scuttlebutt on twitter that he is also close with top big man Paolo Banchero with the two talking about wanting to play together in college. Might Duke's next super class come from 2021?
Committed: AJ Griffin
Offers: Patrick Baldwin, Jr., Paolo Banchero, Charles Bediako, Kennedy Chandler, Max Christie, Trevor Keels, and Jonathan Kuminga
Of that group, Duke appears to be in great shape with Baldwin, Banchero, Chandler, and Christie. I'm not as sure about Trevor Keels or Banchero. Duke has connections with Keels in that Jeremy Roach is his high school teammate. And with Chandler's interest and Banchero listing Duke among his top choices, things might be looking good there, too. I remain skeptical of the fit with Duke and Kuminga, but he is a talented young man. The bottom line is that Duke is looking to put together a monster class for 2021.
But won’t Sophomore Jeremy Roach be the backup PG or are we rolling with JR at the off guard?
My expectation is that Jeremy Roach wants to be a one-and-done. He is, after Cade Cunningham, one of the best PGs in his class. He's a McDonald's All-American and part of the Nike Hoops Summit, Duke's only representative this year. Now he might not be good enough to be a 1st round draft pick. That's another matter, one we'll know more about in about a year from now.
Any recruit who watched the UNC/Duke game has got to have been impresses by the display of the Duke brotherhood when Moore's shot went in.