Top 5 basketball recruit commits to father, Wisconsin-Milwaukee

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Brian O’Mahoney/Pioneer Press/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Patrick Baldwin Jr. has committed to play at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and play for his father Patrick Baldwin SR. 

The younger Baldwin is ranked 5th according to ESPN in the 2021 class and was considering Duke, Georgetown and Virginia.

“I will be playing for my dad at Milwaukee,” the younger Baldwin told ESPN. “I had some great options, which made me not rush through the process. The thought of playing for my dad was too good to pass up.”

The 6-foot-10 forward is already slotted in at number 8 on ESPN’s 2022 NBA mock draft. He could become the first Horizon League lottery pick since Butler’s Gordon Hayward in 2010.

The elder Baldwin took over at Milwaukee in 2017 and has a 27-40 record. The last time the Panthers made the NCAA Tournament was 2014 when they lost to Villanova in the first round. 

Baldwin Jr’s commitment leaves second ranked Jaden Hardy and seventh Michael Foster as the only two top 10 players who have not committed in this class. 

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