The favorite to land Duke transfer Joey Baker

Some figured recent graduate Joey Baker might ultimately return to the Duke basketball program despite his late entry into the transfer portal in May.

But the Blue Devils have since snagged a commitment from former Illinois wing Jacob Grandison and announced that their 2022-23 roster is complete earlier this week.

In other words, it now seems safe to say there's no chance Baker will be in Durham for his fifth season in college.

Where the Duke basketball product is likeliest to end up

On Wednesday, after previously checking out Georgia and Michigan, Joey Baker used a third official visit to see George Washington.

Then Chris Balas of The Wolverine tweeted on Thursday that Baker's decision is coming soon, perhaps as early as this week. Meanwhile, the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine pegs Michigan as the 100 percent frontrunner.

Several Wolverine writers have suggested reasons to subscribe to that forecast, even though Baker might enjoy a more prominent role at Georgia or George Washington.

Chris Peterson of GBMWolverine summarized in an article on Thursday what the 6-foot-6 small forward might find magnetizing about Michigan:

"Baker averaged 12 minutes a year ago for the Blue Devils on a Final Four team. At Michigan, he would certainly play more than that, especially with the need for shooting on the wing."

Peterson continued:

"Baker could compete for a starting job and worst case, he would likely be one of the first guys off the bench. We all remember how effective Duncan Robinson was playing that role and with Hunter Dickinson in the lineup, Baker would get open looks."

And Andrew Kahn of MLive relayed in an article on Thursday what Baker's adviser and former AAU coach, Fredrick Cannon, said about Michigan's standing:

"Joey was intrigued by the opportunity and after speaking to the staff — Michigan is Michigan. He's coming from a historic program. The opportunity to do it again and have a bigger role, that's intriguing to him...[The Michigan coaches] left a great impression on us. I would think they did everything they could to have the best shot."

Last season, Joey Baker averaged 4.5 points per game and shot 40.5 percent from downtown. But he saw his playing time sharply decline in March as he dealt with a left hip injury, for which he underwent surgery to repair after the season ended.

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