This edition of the ACC Basketball Recruiting Notebook will look at Duke, Notre Dame, Virginia, and Virginia Tech adding players. As well as the impact of transfers on Wake Forest and Virginia Tech among other items.
Just a day after having grad transfer Patrick Tape de-committed from the Duke Blue Devils, coach Mike Krzyzewski added incoming freshman Cason Pierce as a preferred walk-on for the 2020-21 campaign, according to BlueDevilCountry. Pierce becomes the seventh member of the Blue Devils‘ highly touted 2020 recruiting class that is headlined by consensus top 15 recruit Jalen Johnson. Jeremy Roach, DJ Steward, Mark Williams, Jaemyn Brakefield, and Henry Coleman — all of them are consensus top 60 players in the class.
Pierce is a 6-7 forward who played at Greensboro Day School, where he was team captain, a three-time state champion, student body president, and a member of the National Honor Society. He has an array of post moves and has the ability to step out beyond the 3-point line. Pierce also can attack the floor when his man closes out tight to take away the perimeter shot. Additionally, the Greensboro native runs the floor well and is decent on the defensive end.
Pierce’s addition means that the Blue Devils now have 16 players on the roster for the upcoming season. Pierce joins redshirt freshmen Michael Savarino, who is Krzyzewski’s grandson, and Keenan Worthington as a walk-on. Reportedly, Mike Buckmire will not be on scholarship for his senior season. If that is true, Duke will have one more scholarship to hand out in 2020 though that number could increase if Vernon Carey, Cassius Stanley, and Matthew Hurt departs/leaves for the NBA Draft.