Having lost one shooting guard to professional basketball on Thursday, Duke added another for next season on Friday.
Trevor Keels, a 6-5 guard from Clinton, Md., committed to the Blue Devils during an ESPN appearance, picking Duke over Virginia, Villanova and Kentucky.
“It was a tough decision, but I could only chose one school,” Keels said before pulling out a blue Duke hat. “That relationship I had with Coach K was just different. We connected.”
His arrival will help Duke absorb the loss of DJ Steward, the 6-3 guard who averaged 13 points per game as a freshman last season and declared for the NBA draft on Thursday.
Keels will reunite with his former Fairfax (Va.) Paul VI Catholic High School teammate, Jeremy Roach, with the Blue Devils. The 6-1 Roach, a point guard, started 18 of Duke’s 24 games this season as a freshman while averaging 8.7 points and 2.8 assists per game as a freshman.
Keels said Roach being on campus already played a huge part.
“He’s always competitive, that’s what I like about him,” Keels said. “He recruited me and recruited me hard. Told me the things he liked, things he didn’t like. He kept it 100 with me, that’s what I liked.”
Duke now has three incoming freshmen for next season, each rated five-star by various recruiting sites.
The group is headed by 6-9, 235-pound center Paolo Banchero of Seattle, who is rated as the No. 3 player in the class by 247sports.com. Banchero and A.J. Griffin, a 6-7, 220-pound forward from White Plains, N.Y., both signed with Duke in November. Griffin is rated as the No. 7 player in the class by 247sports.com.
Keels is the No. 20 player in the class. He told the ESPN broadcast crew he can’t wait to get to Durham.
“They are getting a person that wants to win,” Keels said. “Very versatile, can compete on both ends. I’m all about winning. I’ll come in and try and get a national championship.”
After going 13-11 and missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995 this season, Duke now has Keels, Roach, 6-5 junior Wendell Moore and 6-7 senior Joey Baker as backcourt options for next season.
Duke lost two players to the NBA draft in Steward and 6-9 freshman forward Jalen Johnson, who declared in February and withdrew from school. A third Blue Devils player, 6-9 sophomore Matthew Hurt, is also expected to declare for the draft. Hurt averaged 18.1 points per game
