Duke Basketball: Marvin Bagley III checks academic standing with NCAA

By John Woodcock | Jul 29, 2017

GREENVILLE, SC - MARCH 19: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils reacts in the second half against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2017 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Duke Basketball has had a big recruiting year thus far. As the offseason wears on, all eyes now turn to the NCAA and the fate of Marvin Bagley III.

Duke Basketball could be one step closer to the realization of an early appearance by Marvin Bagley III. According to reports by Evan Daniels at Scout.com, Bagley has submitted paperwork to the NCAA so that they could review his academic eligibility to join the class of 2017. As Daniels pointed out, this does not yet mean that Bagley will reclassify, only that he is keeping that option open.

If Bagley does enter the current recruiting class, there is no guarantee either that he would choose Duke. He has visited Duke recently, but the other three schools on his radar are all in the Pacific 12. Those competitors would be USC, UCLA, and Arizona.

The part that gets interesting is what happens if he does decide to come to Duke this year. That would instantly give Coach Mike Krzyzewski more post depth. Along with Bagley, there will be sophomore Marques Bolden and highly rated freshman Wendell Carter, Jr. Would Coach K abandon his approach of recent years and play a three man post rotation with traditional interior players?

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This past season, Coach K had a similar issue with young big men Harry Giles, Bolden, sophomore Chase Jeter, and senior Amile Jefferson on the roster. We never got a clear answer because they were all hurt at different times, but Coach K had a preference for Jayson Tatum to be on the court at the four spot.

This year’s team is missing the clear Tatum option. Freshman Jordan Tucker does not rate highly enough to fit and Gary Trent Jr. is not big enough to hold his own in the post on defense. It does not appear that there is even a Gerald Henderson option for this team. Henderson was used at the four in small lineups back in 2008-09, despite being just 6’5”.

The roster would appear to lean toward a more traditional interior, but there is one more concern. Will Bolden be the odd man out in terms of minutes? Bolden was a highly rated recruit in his own right last year. Many believed that this year could be a breakout season for him since there did not seem to be huge competition for minutes. Now his number of opportunities would diminish, but by how much?

That would depend again on the model that Coach K relies on if Bagley comes to play in Cameron Indoor. One could argue that it is easy to find minutes for three post players where they are all reasonably happy. If Coach K goes small a lot, the third player’s minutes would evaporate in a hurry.

Next: North Carolina's non-conference schedule

Clearly, there is still a lot to sort out here, and nothing will be settled until the NCAA gives its decision of approval or denial. It could be the Bagley stays in school or heads out west and none of these concerns matter.

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