Duke scores another 2019 with Cassius Stanley
RANKINGS: 2019 Rivals150 | 2019 Team rankings | 2019 Position rankings
Duke and Mike Krzyzewski added to their top ranked 2019 recruiting haul Monday when top 35 shooting guard Cassius Stanley announced his commitment to the Blue Devils.
A 6-foot-5 senior at Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon, Stanley had been down to a final three of Kansas, Oregon and UCLA for much of his recruitment. Then, Duke secured a visit a few weeks prior to landing him.
Though Duke got in late, Stanley says that it wasn't quite as late as people realized and that a firing opened the door for them.
"I guess the availability really came up when the UCLA coach got fired, Coach (Steve) Alford," Stanley told Rivals.com. "We had a good relationship over the years so that was a free spot and instead of cutting it down to two I decided that it worked at the same time to let Duke come in."
Just getting into consideration was one thing, but winning Stanley over was another. After some under the radar visits by the Duke staff to Los Angeles to see him, Stanley returned the favor with a trip to Durham. He knew what he was getting into from a basketball standpoint and needed the visit to be sold on other aspects.
"It was a cool visit, it was really nice," said Stanley. "I didn't expect it to be what it was because I'm from Los Angeles. I was more looking at how the social life is and how the weather is. It was really cool, it was really fun and I met a lot of really cool people so I took that into consideration."
A high-flying wing who is a big-time finisher in transition and a good passer, Stanley is the latest piece in Duke's No. 1 ranked 2019 class that already includes five-stars Vernon Carey Jr., Matthew Hurt, Wendell Moore and four-star scorer Boogie Ellis.
"I can see myself being really productive in their system," said Stanley. "Coach K has talked to me about playing right way basketball. Moving the ball around, making the right pass and that's really how I play. I move the ball around and try to make the smart play so I think I could fit pretty well in the system."