DJ Steward commits to Duke

Five-star combo guard is third member of 2020 class

DJ Steward announced that he was committing to Duke in a posting on his Twitter account.

“This is the most challenging decision I’ve ever had to make at this young age,” he said on the video he posted. “I love this game of basketball, the competition and the camaraderie of being on a team. More than anything, I’m obsessed with winning. When I factor all these things, there’s one university above all that checks all these boxes. I’m humbled, honored and overjoyed to become a member of the brotherhood and play for Coach K and the Blue Devils.”

The five-star combination guard from Chicago’s Whitney Young is ranked No. 26 in the class of 2020 and No. 6 at his position according to 247 sports. He’s No. 31 in the nation and No. 11 at shooting guard at Rivals, who has him rated a four-star.

Steward made his decision after taking an official visit to Duke over the weekend. He also took an official visit to Texas earlier in the month.

DePaul, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, Louisville and UNC were his other finalists.

Steward averaged 24.3 points and 3.2 assists last year and starred on the Nike EYBL summer circuit, including the Peach Jam.

Steward becomes the third member of the Blue Devils’ 2020 recruiting class, joining small forward Jalen Johnson and point guard Jeremy Roach, both five-stars. The class currently ranks second in the nation, behind Kentucky.

The three current commits would replace the scholarships vacated by Duke’s 2019-20 seniors—Javin DeLaurier, Jack White and Justin Robinson. Sophomore Tre Jones and several of the incoming freshmen, including Wendell Moore Jr., Vernon Carey r. and Matthew Hurt, could be one-and-dones.

Duke is still very active in the class of 2020 to help replace many of those anticipated losses. Four-star power forward Henry Coleman took an official visit to Duke last month. He’s scheduled to announce his college choice a week from Friday.

Five-star center Walker Kessler took his official visit earlier this month, and four-star center Mark Williams has a visit schedule for later this fall.

Duke is also pushing for five-star small forward Ziaire Williams.