NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early takeaways from 2021 recruiting classes

Duke’s wild recruiting summer

Due to the insider connections, sources, and “crystal balls”, we tend to have an idea where most recruits are going by the time they announce it. But every now and then, there is one high-level prospect whose commitment takes an interesting turn or two.

So far in the 2021 class, the player that fits that description is Paolo Banchero. A top-5 overall prospect, the power forward had six teams originally in the mix. The key players though seemed to be Duke, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The Wildcats reportedly were interested in having him reclassify to the 2020 class to help with their frontcourt issues.

Kentucky still was viewed as the favorites to get Banchero this offseason, until his close friend and fellow five-star recruit Kennedy Chandler picked Tennessee. Once that happened, there seemed to be a great chance that those two would pair up in Knoxville. But it definitely looked as if he was headed to the SEC either way.

Yet just a week later, Banchero made a surprise announcement out of nowhere, picking the Duke Blue Devils. It’s a shock to ever be surprised that the program would land a five-star prospect but once Chandler went elsewhere, it looked as if Banchero also was gone.

Now, the Blue Devils have a pair of top-10 overall commits in both Banchero and AJ Griffin and hope to land either Trevor Keels, Charles Bediako, Caleb Houstan, or Patrick Baldwin Jr. Right now, the program seems to be in a great spot to land any of them and will likely get 1-2 by this time next year when evaluating the 2021 classes.

Considering that Chandler was viewed as a favorite for Duke and Banchero wasn’t, it goes to show you that even with all the inside information in the world, it comes down to what these players want. And sometimes, these 17-year-olds can surprise us in a big way.