The top-ranked prospect in the 2022 class cut his options to five on Friday evening, and Villanova has been eliminated from contention. Duren cut his list from 11 options, with Kentucky, Memphis, Miami, the G League and Australia's NBL as the remaining options.

We've long believed that Duren will go the professional route, and while the implementation of NIL perhaps evens the playing field a bit, it's still hard to see Duren eschewing the professional ranks until he is NBA Draft eligible. The fact that both professional options made the cut seems to support this idea.

What we know for sure is that Duren's decision is no longer Villanova's concern. Jay Wright and staff will turn their attention and resources elsewhere as they look to add to a 2022 class that already contains four-star guard Mark Armstrong. Four-star forward Cam Whitmore takes over as Villanova's current top target, and we'll wait to see if/when any other offers go out.

The next likely flurry of activity should come in a few weeks during and just after the July live evaluation periods.