Duke recruiting analysts no longer expect Patrick Baldwin Jr. to pick the Blue Devils
Patrick Baldwin Jr. might not be headed to Duke, after all.
Three new Crystal Ball predictions have been logged on Baldwin’s page in the past 24 hours. All three are from Duke recruiting insiders, and all three are picking Wisconsin-Milwaukee to land the coveted five-star basketball prospect.
Baldwin — a 6-foot-9 small forward in the 2021 class with perimeter skills — has long been in the discussion for the No. 1 ranking in that group, and he’s currently placed at No. 4 overall in the 247Sports composite rankings.
Technically, he still has several schools on his recruiting list, including Kentucky, which made Baldwin one of the first players in the 2021 class to get a UK scholarship offer. He has said in recent weeks that he’s remained in contact with the Wildcats coaching staff, but his recruitment — in the eyes of most analysts — has turned into a two-team race: Duke, the blue blood that extended an offer early in Baldwin’s high school career; and Milwaukee, where Baldwin’s father is the head coach.
Baldwin told Sports Illustrated last week that he is “75 percent sure” that he knows where he wants to play his college ball, but he isn’t ready to announce a decision just yet. His senior season of high school ended after only a few days due to an ankle injury.
Until the three new Crystal Ball predictions in favor of Milwaukee came in Monday night and Tuesday morning, all of the picks on Baldwin’s 247Sports page and his Rivals.com FutureCast page had been in favor of Duke.
The Blue Devils have already signed two of the top players in the 2021 class — power forward Paolo Banchero (No. 3 in the composite rankings) and small forward AJ Griffin (No. 7 on that list) — but they’re still looking for more talented prospects for next season.
Baldwin and five-star shooting guard Trevor Keels have been at the top of that wish list. It now looks like Baldwin could be staying home, and Keels landed a new scholarship offer from Kentucky over the weekend, giving Duke even more competition for his commitment.
Pat Baldwin has been the head coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee since 2017 and was previously an assistant coach under former Duke assistant Chris Collins at Northwestern, which is his alma mater.
