With the recent development that Duke legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski will retire after the 2021-22 campaign, we’re taking a look at former Syracuse basketball prospects who ultimately opted for the Blue Devils in recent years.
We relied on information from the 247Sports Web site for this column. According to 247Sports, the high-school prospects whom we will discuss had scholarship offers from the Orange, but they chose Duke instead.
Now, not all of these players necessarily had the ‘Cuse among their shortlists of finalists, but it’s still an interesting exercise to examine which guys decided to play for Coach K over Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim and other high-major squads.
One recent name that comes to mind first is Jordan Tucker. The 2017 four-star wing, a native of White Plains, N.Y., had narrowed down his finalists to the Orange and Georgia Tech.
But then the Blue Devils offered Tucker late in his recruiting process, and the shooting guard/small forward out of Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga., picked Duke.
This one stung for me and an abundance of other ‘Cuse fanatics, as we all thought that the Orange had an excellent chance to secure Tucker’s services. He would later transfer to Butler.
In April of 2020, Columbia graduate transfer Patrick Tape committed to the Blue Devils – twice. The power forward/center decided on Duke rather than Syracuse basketball or others reportedly in the running, such as Ohio State, USC, Maryland and Georgetown. Tape has since moved on to San Francisco, according to media reports.
Other Syracuse basketball targets who went on to compete for Mike Krzyzewski.
Over the past five years or so, other top-flight prospects who held Orange offers but picked Duke include 2016 five-star power forward Harry Giles, 2017 five-star point guard Trevon Duval, 2018 five-star small forward Cam Reddish and 2019 four-star small forward Wendell Moore.
If we head back about 10 years, 2011 four-star power forward Alex Murphy had a ‘Cuse offer but committed to the Blue Devils. Murphy’s college basketball career would transition from Duke to Florida and then finally to Northeastern as a graduate student.
Going back in time even further, I’d be remiss not to mention Christian Brothers Academy star athlete Greg Paulus. An elite point guard in the 2005 recruiting cycle, Paulus owned a Syracuse basketball offer but suited up for the Blue Devils and Krzyzewski.
Of course, Paulus would return to the Hill and quarterback the Orange football team for one season as a graduate student.