NCAA Basketball: Duke, Michigan and OSU among finalists for Charles Bediako

Duke Blue Devils

The Blue Devils doesn’t have a ton of center depth on its roster, which is why they went and landed Columbia grad transfer Patrick Tape. He and top-30 big man Mark Williams will log the minutes this upcoming season but Williams could go pro. That would force the program to look heavily for another center in the 2021 class.

The good news for Duke is that they may have already landed its future center in Paolo Banchero, a 6’10 power forward/center ranked in the top-5 overall. However, he may be better suited at the four-spot. So it makes sense that they’re continuing to look for a true center to maximize their prize recruit.

The issue, compared to some of the others on the list, is that playing time is far from guaranteed. Raw prospects such as Bediako may have a short leash compared to more polished athletes on the roster and there’s a history of former five-star recruits that get left on the bench at Duke.

If Williams doesn’t leave after his freshman year and No. 1 forward recruit Patrick Baldwin Jr. picks the Blue Devils, which would certainly push Banchero to play mostly at center, Bediako would have to fight hard just to be on the rotation. Considering the pipeline from Duke to the NBA, it may be worth it for the Canadian center. But it’s clearly a risk that needs to be looked at hard.