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The top two players in the class of 2022 are now both officially off the table.
5-star center Dereck Lively signed up with the Duke Blue Devils on Monday.
The monumental move comes weeks away from the country’s top player Shaedon Sharp pledging his allegiance to the Kentucky Wildcats
247 Sports ranks Lively as America’s second best player, and most consider him to have the highest cap of any prospect in the class.
The tall man is 7 foot 1 and weighs 220 pounds. He associates this frightening size with enormous athletic ability and his sense of the game.
His offensive qualities are already incredible for a young player of his size. By all indications, it is only scratching the surface of its potential at this end of the ground.
Most believe his point set will continue to grow rapidly as he enters his final year of high school.
It is also to be expected that the future Blue Devil will also be a gum on the defensive level. When you are a 7ft player who can run and jump like Lively, it will be nearly impossible for his presence not to be felt while playing college football.
Dereck Lively has the goods – dot, white, full stop.
Closing the deal was a major recruiting victory for Duke’s assistant Jon Scheyer.
Despite being the second player in the class, it goes without saying that Lively has the potential to make a championship-level impact during his freshman year at college.
Not to mention the idea that he could absolutely be the top pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, which is never a bad thing for a program.
Lively’s entire recruiting has been extremely quiet from the start.
I believe most people, even many college basketball insiders, had little or no information until the days before the decision.
By this time, predictions were pouring in for Duke. Starting with Travis Graf of Rivals trading his Kentucky pick to Duke around noon on Saturday.
After that, the wind left the sails for Kentucky fans.
Now the Cats will move on to their next target big man in the 2022 class, Adem Bona, who Calipari is said to have visited on Sunday.
It’s been a while since the general consensus has been that Bona and Kentucky had a mutual interest, but Dereck Lively’s decision overwhelmed them, causing a delay.
Now that Lively is set to join Dariq Whitehead, Kyle Filipowski and Jaden Schutt at Duke, Kentucky will likely move all-in on Bona.
It will be a recruiting situation that will play a monster role in the ultimate makeup of Calipari’s 2022 squad.
Who knows – maybe Adem Bona is the exact type of player to pair with electric guards like Shaedon Sharpe and Skyy Clark and that benefits the UK. It is certainly possible, but there is no way to lose Lively other than a big loss.
The Cats will see Duke in the Champions Classic in less than a month and could get revenge quickly to soften that blow.
Buckle up.
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