Paolo Banchero reels in an offer from Duke
Rising junior Paolo Banchero of O’Dea HS has put together one of the best single years out of any player in Washington in years. The 5-star prospect has won a 3A State Championship, won the 3A State MVP, led his Seattle Rotary team to Peach Jam twice, risen to the top 5 in national rankings, won the NBA Top 100 Camp MVP and Pangos All American Top 30 MVP. It is hard to think of a single player that has put together a more consistent resume together when considering team and individual performance. One name that comes to mind is Avery Bradley, currently playing for the LA Lakers. He would also finish his senior season as the number one player in the country, widely renowned as the country’s best defender in 2009 and he was the best player on the best team in the country at Findlay Prep. Avery played in the McDonald’s All American game, won the McDonald’s All American dunk contest, won a gold Medal with Team USA and he eventually went on to play at Texas for a season before being drafted into the NBA. One big difference is Avery did all of this is in his final high school season. Paolo’s resume as an incoming junior is almost uncharted territory for any Washington prospects.
In the last 20 years, Washington has produced multiple dozen NBA players, but a very small number of them have been actively recruited and offered by the legendary Coach K and Duke University. FOH Seattle teammates Jon Brockman (Snohomish HS, 2005) and Spencer Hawes (Seattle Prep, 2006) are two rare prospects to be offered by Duke in the last 20 years. Both would choose UW over Duke in their final five. Quin Snyder (Mercer Island HS, 1985) played for Duke as the starting point guard in his sophomore season in 1986. Before that, O’Dea HS legend Jo Jo Buchanan (1982) was recruited aggressively by Coach K in the 19, but ultimately chose Notre Dame over Duke and Syracuse as the country’s number one point guard. Paolo’s recruitment appears to still be wide open with offers continuing to pile in and interestingly enough, Roy Williams at North Carolina offered Paolo within 48 hours after Duke did. Jaden McDaniels (Federal Way HS, 2019) had one of the more hyped recruitments in Washington in some time, but it appears we are in for an even bigger recruitment battle with Banchero for the next year or two. Both of his parents were student-athletes at Washington and some felt that would steer him in that direction, but with heavy weights like Duke and UNC involved, things are just now beginning to heat up! Prep Hoops will be sure to keep everyone in the loop as everything transpires. Enjoy the ride.
Feature Photo Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Other Photo Credit: Sniper Kwam