Texas Basketball Recruiting: Odds Longhorns pry 5-star Isaiah Stewart from Duke

Time is dwindling down for the 2019 Texas basketball recruiting class to be able to land five-star center Isaiah Steward before National Signing Day.

The 2019 Texas basketball recruiting class has a handful of targets that it can go after before National Signing Day commences in a few months, but there’s not many uncommitted prospects left on the table. This Texas basketball recruiting class does have a good group of signees, highlighted by four-star shooting guard Donovan Williams and five-star center Will Baker.

Two of the most important remaining targets for this 2019 Texas basketball recruiting class and head coach Shaka Smart are a pair of five-star big men. The first is the 6-foot-9 La Lumiere School and Rochester, NY, center Isaiah Stewart. The other, and more realistic target for this Texas basketball recruiting class, is Federal Way, WA, big man Jaden McDaniels.

There’s a lot of schools in the mix for Stewart at this point in his recruitment. He holds more than 40 offers, from some of the top college hoops programs in the nation. His offer sheet is quite impressive considering most of the top prospects in the nation for basketball recruiting tend to not get more than 30-35 offers. For example, Baker was a top 20 prospect in the nation and he didn’t receive more than 20 offers by the time he announced his commitment to the 2019 Texas basketball recruiting class.

Moreover, Stewart is starting to narrow down his search for his final commitment decision it seems. Whoever does land Stewart is definitely getting an elite big man who moves with the best of them among forwards and centers and is a solid player on the offensive end of the floor.

Stewart is rated as the No. 6 overall 2019 high school prospect in the nation and the third best center. He’s also rated as the best 2019 high school prospect out of the state of New York. This center class is loaded, and Stewart is just one part that could make an immediate impact wherever he lands.

At this point, there’s a few programs that emerged as favorites to land the commitment from Stewart. According to the 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions, there’s three programs that all have about an equal shot to land Stewart’s pledge when he announces. Those three programs include the Michigan State Spartans, Duke Blue Devils, and Washington Huskies. The Syracuse Orange also look to gain some of his interest before he announces and signs his National Letter of Intent.

Of late, the two schools that really emerged in Stewart’s recruitment were Duke and Michigan State. Two of the more significant recent events in the recruitment of Stewart included an official visit to Duke and a coach visit from Michigan State’s Tom Izzo. Stewart also recently received a visit from Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski as the Blue Devils are looking to gain some momentum to sway him toward Durham.

When it all comes down to it, Stewart’s commitment could come down to Duke and Michigan State. The 2019 Texas basketball recruiting class is really starting to fall behind those two programs in pursuit of a key target, Stewart. Even Rivals FutureCast gives Washington a 50 percent shot at landing Stewart, and not a single reference to the Texas Longhorns.

There’s still a slight chance that the Horns could land the commitment from Stewart, but it seems to be fading by the week. The odds that Smart is able to add Stewart to the 2019 Texas basketball recruiting class is even slighter since it has Baker present in the front court starting next season. More than likely, he’ll be joining either Duke or Michigan State with the way his recruitment is trending now.