Five-star basketball prospect Patrick Baldwin Jr. is sticking with family instead of going to play for a blue blood NCAA program. Baldwin will be playing for his father at Milwaukee, choosing the Panthers over the Duke Blue Devils and Georgetown Hoyas, among other schools. This despite Milwaukee struggling mightily under Patrick Baldwin Sr. in recent years.
The younger Baldwin is the No. 4 player in the 2021 class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. He would have given Duke the No. 1 recruiting class in the country.
Baldwin is a 6-foot-9, 190-pound forward from Sussex, Wisconsin, so he's staying close to home with his college selection. He won Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior at Hamilton High School, but his senior season was marred by an ankle injury.
While Baldwin had to have been intrigued by going to play for a bigger program, clearly he was more enamored with playing for his dad in his home state. The youngster will try to help turn around a Panthers program that hasn't recorded a winning season since his dad was hired in 2017. Milwaukee went 10-12 last season, with the elder Baldwin holding a 47-70 overall record at the school.
Patrick Baldwin Jr. is the first five-star prospect since Tyreke Evans to commit to a college program outside the Major 7 conference structure. It will be interesting to see how long he stays at Milwaukee and if he's able to make a quick jump to the NBA in the coming years.
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