The Paolo Banchero Blog: Dealing with COVID-19, Training, Online School and More

Top junior forward blogs about the new normal for elite high school basketball players dealing with COVID-19 pandemic.

Paolo Banchero is a consensus top five player in the 2021 class with one of the most versatile skill sets of any player in the country, regardless of class. Last season, he led O’Dea (Seattle) to its first state title since 2007, won MVP of the NBPA Top 100 Camp last summer and won Underclassmen of the Year in the Nike EYBL. This season he’s been equally dominant with the list of college suitors to prove it with everyone from Duke to Washington to Kentucky to North Carolina and Kansas, among others, all in hot pursuit. Now, Banchero has agreed to give SI All-American exclusive access into his world by chronicling everything from intimate details about his recruitment to his everyday life in a blog.

What’s up world, it’s my blog and I’m back at you again.

Well, like everyone else around the world, I’m at home.

Luckily, we did get to finish our high school state tournament here, so that was good. I saw so many states got stopped in the middle of their state tournaments and weren’t able to finish up.

I know that was rough for them!

Unfortunately, we ended up losing in the state title game.

We had three games in three days and I think we were just a little tired at the end. The other team played great, so I have to give them credit.

We came back to school on Monday then on Tuesday they announced during school that we’d be closing for the next two weeks.

We were all pretty shocked. I still am. Wow, it’s just a wild time right now.

RELATED: McDonald's All American Game Cancelled Due to COVID-19

The first thing for me was seeing the NBA stop the season and I knew that everything else was just a matter of time; March Madness cancelled and then EYBL came next.

I figured that would happen, but I’m confident that we’ll end up playing maybe later in the summer.

I’m hoping that you’re all staying safe out there. This is something that I’ll tell me kids and grandkids about.

I felt terrible for my guys that made the McDonald’s All American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic too. I know that’s a dream for all of us, and I remember being around a lot of them at camps and stuff like that and hearing them talk about how bad they wanted to play in those games.

RELATED: Elite HS Tournaments Cancelled Due to COVID-19

I was supposed to play in the Nike Hoop Summit too, but that got cancelled.

That sucked!

School is online for me right now. I go from about 8 a.m. to noon so it’s not too bad.

I’m still working on my game!

Right now, I’m able to get in the gym early in the morning while no one is there. I think that may close soon though.

My recruitment has been all through the phone because of the virus.

It’s been the same amount of contact; they just won’t be able to come see me for a while.

Like I said, it’s a crazy time right now.

With all the free time, I’m still listening to my music; mostly Lil Uzi, Lil Baby, G Herbo and a couple other guys.

OK, everyone that’s it for me right now.

Stay safe and I’ll talk to you soon.

Don’t forget to follow Paolo Banchero:

Twitter: @Pp_doesit