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Duke Basketball: Way-too-early look at potential 2020-21 Blue Devils roster

By Matthew Travis

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils reacts against the Michigan State Spartans during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils reacts against the Michigan State Spartans during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 31: Xavier Tillman #23 of the Michigan State Spartans and Javin DeLaurier #12 of the Duke Blue Devils battle for the ball during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 31: Xavier Tillman #23 of the Michigan State Spartans and Javin DeLaurier #12 of the Duke Blue Devils battle for the ball during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Center

Just like power forward, center is a position which we have no clue who will be there when the season starts. For 2019-20 Duke has Vernon Carey jr. likely starting and Javin DeLaurier coming off the bench behind him.

However, Carey is the sixth-ranked player overall and the third-ranked center, which likely means he will be headed for the NBA after his freshman season. In addition to this, Javin DeLaurier will be playing his senior season in 2019-20, which means he won’t be there in 2020-21 either.

So with that, Duke won’t have any centers for the 2020-21 season who were there in 2019-20. So, this means Duke will likely be getting a commitment from a player such as Mark Williams or Walker Kessler.

Kessler and Williams were two of the names that Jalen Johnson said he had been recruiting to join him in Durham. Both are fantastic options with Kessler being ranked 16th in the Class of 2020 and Williams coming in at 32nd.

Both have cut their lists of teams they were considering down with Kessler cutting it to six and Williams to seven. Kessler’s final six teams include Auburn, Cal, Duke, Gonzaga, Michigan and North Carolina. Williams’ seven include Duke, Georgetown, NC State, Ohio State, UCLA, Stanford and Virginia Tech.

247 Sports’ Crystal Ball gives Duke an 80% chance of landing Kessler and a 75% chance of getting Williams. This being said the chances of Duke getting one or the other is very high, but could they possibly get both?

With the Blue Devils not having a single center on the roster for the 2020-21 season, I believe there is a chance that they could wind up getting commitments from both Kessler and Williams because not only do the Blue Devils not have a center, but they also don’t have a power forward yet.

This being said, maybe either of them would be willing to play the four a bit in hopes of creating a tall lineup, but that is a bit more far-fetched.

What I believe the center depth chart will look like in 2020-21:

  1. Mark Williams
  2. Lower ranked center commit

I believe the Blue Devils wind up getting a commitment out of Mark Williams. I think Duke misses on Kessler as he decides to commit to Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers.

Next. Teams who need successful 2020 recruiting classes. dark

Even though Williams is the lower ranked of the two, he is still a very solid player standing at 7’0″, 225lbs. Pairing Williams with both Jalen Johnson and Jeremy Roach and also potentially Tre Jones, Scottie Barnes and Cassius Stanley could make for a very dangerous team capable of making a deep run in the tournament.

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