Paolo Napoleon James Banchero is an American-Italian college basketball player for the Duke Blue Devils of the Atlantic Coast Conference. He was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2021 class.
Paolo Banchero: Highlights| Rivals| Ranking| Draft
Highlights:
He explains that he came to Duke to find his own way among other greats. He talks about the “beautiful campus” and Duke’s athletic facilities and says…”it just breeds dogs, man!”
He says Duke has the tradition, Duke has the brand, and some nice things about Cameron, the Crazies and the general bright lights and says: “we set the standard.”
And then he says this: “built by the players…for the players…The Brotherhood.”
Rivals:
It’s no secret Kentucky has been in solid position with five-star recruiting targets Paolo Banchero, Jaden Hardy, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield for months now, both publicly and behind the scenes. Today, though, Corey Evans of Rivals.com took it a step further by projecting all three to Kentucky in the class of 2021.
Hardy has long been seen as a heavy UK lean, and in today’s update, Evans said the 6-foot-4 guard out of Las Vegas is “the likeliest 2021 Kentucky commitment.” “Jaden Hardy committing to anyone but Kentucky would be one of the bigger surprises I could see happening in the coming months,” Evans said.
Ranking:
Without further ado, let’s kick things off with Paolo Banchero, the Duke freshman who ranked No. 2 in the recruiting rankings but ranks No. 1 on our list.
His parents met while attending the University of Washington. Banchero is of Italian descent on his father’s side. In February 2020, he received Italian citizenship.
Draft:
The college basketball season — and by extension the sprint to the 2022 NBA Draft — will begin in earnest Tuesday night as the 2021-22 campaign gets underway. So with a new year upon us, it’s time to set the table for what lies ahead in the coming months as the draft starts to come into focus.
Below is our first stab of the season at what we expect. Much will change between now and next summer when the draft takes place as the college season drags on and international play continues.
