Duke Recruiting: Patrick Baldwin Cuts List To 10

Top recruit Patrick Baldwin has cut his list to 10:

• Duke
• North Carolina
• Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Michigan
• Northwestern
• Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Georgetown
• Kentucky
• UCLA

We grouped the finalists by conference but there’s no known ranking. However, many people think Baldwin favors Duke; the Crystal Ball is 100% Duke, for what that’s worth.

If Milwaukee-Wisconsin seems like the outlier here, it’s not: his father is the head coach there.

Also worth noting: in the link above, we learn that Baldwin’s grandfather went to Duke. You could also look at this list and see several academically prestigious schools: Duke, Virginia, Northwestern, Georgetown, Michigan and UCLA. UNC at one time would have made that list but disqualified itself as as serious academic school, from top to bottom, with its handling of the recent academic fraud scandal.

Incidentally, Baldwin’s father went to Northwestern and was also an assistant to Chris Collins from 2013-2017, so presumably the younger Baldwin not only has familial ties to Evanston but also spent several years there as well.

Here’s a scenario to consider although its entirely speculative and we hope that it doesn't happen: what if Northwestern decides to part with Collins next spring if he has another poor year? He started off very well and made the tournament - the only time Northwestern has ever made it - in 2017. He’s shown he's very capable.

Since then, however, Northwestern has gone 15-17, 13-19 and 8-22.

What if Northwestern A.D. Jim Phillips decided to gamble that he could get two Baldwins with one bold move?

The drawback to this is that Baldwin has not had much success at Wisconsin-Milwaukee so far. That said, it takes some time to build a program, particularly at a smaller school.