Duke basketball recruiting target cancels official visit

It looks like JP Estrella is no longer an option for Duke.

Rejections are part of the recruiting game, no matter a program's proven mastery in attracting top prospects. That said, given the Duke basketball recruiters' off-the-charts win percentage these days, it's out of the ordinary when two targets turn down the Blue Devils in the same week, regardless of the reason.

But that appears to be what happened this week on the 2023 trail.

First, Cathedral Prep (Ind.) five-star center Xavier Booker did not include Duke among his announced finalists on Monday.

Then on Wednesday, Jamie Shaw of On3 reported that Brewster Academy (N.H.) big man JP Estrella, who ranks No. 54 overall on the 247Sports 2023 Composite, canceled his official visit to Durham. It was supposed to begin on Sunday.

The Estrella news comes a day after Blue Devil Country pointed out the three 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions that had painted Duke as the frontrunner for the 6-foot-11, 210-pound four-star all suddenly disappeared.

Shaw added this note:

"The assumption is that the Blue Devils are no longer in the mix. [Estrella] has already taken official visits to Marquette and Tennessee. He's also scheduled to visit Iowa beginning tomorrow, July 28, and Syracuse on August 4."

Duke basketball's two remaining 2023 targets

Although several 2023 preps have drawn significant Duke interest in the past few weeks, first-year head coach Jon Scheyer and his staff are only officially pursuing two rising high school seniors holding Blue Devil offers.

Those two are four-star power forward TJ Power, who ranks No. 63 and began an official visit to Duke on Tuesday, and four-star small forward Andrej Stojakovic, who ranks No. 22 and announced his offer from Scheyer on Tuesday night.

RELATED: Flamethrower alert as Duke offer spree continues

Still, Scheyer's second haul as head coach ranks No. 1 in the country, per 247Sports, with four five-star pledges thus far: point guard Caleb Foster, shooting guard Jared McCain, small forward Mackenzie Mgbako, and power forward Sean Stewart.

Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country for more Duke basketball recruiting updates.