Sierra Canyon high school basketball star Cassius Stanley picks Duke

By Mitch Stephens Apr 22, 2019, 1:00pm

High-flying shooting guard from California chooses the Blue Devils over Kansas and three Pac-12 schools.

He was named after boxing great Cassius Clay — later known as Muhammad Ali — and was immediately pegged as the best freshman in the country when he entered high school 2015.

Cassius Stanley, a high-flying, 6-foot-5 shooting guard, has been the center of attention for much of his young basketball life.

Video: Cassius Stanley commits to Duke
Known most for his high-flying dunks, Stanley was a skilled shooting guard for nationally ranked Sierra Canyon.

So was his college choice, which he announced just a few minutes ago.

Stanley, who won three state California championships in his four prep seasons, picked Duke on Monday, choosing the Blue Devils over Kansas, UCLA and Oregon.

Stanley's announcement comes just three days after third-team MaxPreps All-American Matthew Hurt, of John Marshall (Rochester, Minn.), picked Duke.



John, a 6-9 forward, averaged 37.4 points and 12.4 rebounds a game, to earn his state's Player of the Year honores.

On a very balanced Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) team, Stanley averaged 17.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game for the 32-3 Trailblazers, who finished ranked No. 6 in the country and won a second straight California Open Division title. He's ranked the No. 3 shooting guard in the country and the No. 29 senior overall by 247Sports.

Duke is coming off perhaps its most coveted recruiting class, which included three of the top five rated seniors from the Class of 2018: R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish and Zion Williamson, the 2018-19 national collegiate Player of the Year. All three have already declared for the 2019 NBA Draft.

Besides Hurt — ranked eighth nationally by 247Sports — Duke has landed No. 3 Vernon Carey Jr., a 6-10 post from University (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), No. 22 Wendell Moore Jr., a 6-5 small forward from Cox Mill (Concord, N.C.) and No. 34 Boogie Ellis, a 6-2 combo guard from Mission Bay (San Diego).
Cassius Stanley led Sierra Canyon to back-to-back California Open Division titles starting in 2017-18.
Cassius Stanley led Sierra Canyon to back-to-back California Open Division titles starting in 2017-18.
File photo by Louis Lopez