Paolo Banchero recalls not having fun on Duke visit, reveals what caused him to commit

It’s hard not to picture Paolo Banchero not in a Duke uniform, but the Orlando Magic star almost didn’t play for the Blue Devils.

Not playing Mike Krzyzewski, “Coach K” himself? It almost happened for Banchero, who visited Duke along with five other schools during his junior year of high school.

But once the COVID pandemic hit, his entire mentality changed and had sights on bigger aspirations. To get there? He had to go through Duke.

“I thought about going to a few different schools,” Banchero said on Pardon My Take. “Honestly, like Duke wasn’t even, you know, probably a top two or three until COVID hit. Because I remember going on, I went on five official visits my junior year before COVID and everything. So I went to Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Gonzaga and I had a blast on four out of five. And Duke was the one I actually had … it was a great experience, you know, being around the campus, but, like, I didn’t have a fun time … not really feeling it. But once COVID hit and everything shut down, like, you know, I just kind of started thinking about it even more and more. 

“And that’s when Coach K … you expect a guy like him … the GOAT to not be so, you know, anxious to talk to me every single day, but he was by far out of any coach calling me the most, texting me the most throughout the pandemic.”

The topic was brought up when host Big Cat asked if Banchero considered Washington, since the latter was from Seattle. Duke wasn’t at the top of the list at first but Banchero said he developed some maturity and realized Duke was the best landing spot.

“I think what happened was, I was a 16 year old kid taking visits, and I was caught up in ‘Oh, I didn’t have that much fun on this Duke visit,’” Banchero said. “They’re not that high up on my list. And then COVID kind of brought me back down to Earth, and I realized, look, I’m trying to go to the NBA, be the No. 1 pick, so I need to go to where I had the best opportunity.”

In his lone season at Duke, Banchero played 39 games and averaged 17.2 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game, 3.2 assists per game, shot 47.8% from the floor and 33.8% from three point range. He also averaged 1.1 steals per game.

A First-Team All-ACC member, Banchero was the No. 1 overall pick by the Magic in 2022 and went on to win the 2023 NBA Rookie of the Year award.Banchero was an All-Star last season, helping lead Orlando to the NBA Playoffs, losing in Game 7 in the first round against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Banchero averaged 22.6 points per game, 6.9 rebounds per game, 5.4 assists per game, shot 45.5% from the floor and 33.9% from three-point range last season.