So much for the recruiting blogger’s crystal ball.

Those who really know about the commitment of Georgia 5-star phenom Walker Kessler insist that Carolina had a good chance of landing him since the recruiting process began. And Roy Williams always insists he knows more about it than any speculators.

Duke got in late with the 7-foot Kessler and put the bum’s rush on him with America’s Olympic coach for 11 years taking his staff to see him play over the summer. And I guess Coach K’s mere presence in some sweaty gym gave Kessler a 65 percent chance of signing with Duke in one blogger’s so-called crystal ball.

It was probably that the Blue Devils needed Kessler more than Carolina and the other finalists, who would all have big men on their rosters compared to Duke, which has yet to sign one post player for 2020. So now Dukie bloggers are freaking over the thought of five 6-6 guys taking the court at Cameron not this season, but next. So what, Zion and R.J. didn’t have positions, they just played basketball, didn’t they?

Kessler committed on Sunday after having his official campus visit to Chapel Hill over the weekend, which included a great football game at sold-out Kenan Stadium and the traditional recruiting philosophy of letting underclassmen players spend the most time with a prospect who might actually be their teammate.

After all that, Roy Williams has his chance to close the recruit, and this time Kessler said he had an “aha moment” that was he could picture himself as a student at Carolina, whether or not he played ball. That’s how welcoming the campus apparently was to him.

“The main thing for me, and it was really the main thing,” Kessler said in an interview with 247 Sports, “without basketball I could see myself being a student there, and I would be OK . . . obviously, I want to play basketball, but I could still see myself enjoying life at that school.”

That has always been at the core of Carolina’s recruiting philosophy, dating back to the Dean Smith era. Hang out with the players and other students and see how you all like each other. In that scenario, a campus that abuts Franklin Street is always preferable to being wined and dined at Coach K’s mansion.

Kessler may only stay a year, he’s that good, and plans to continue his education taking online courses with the Kenan-Flagler business school whenever he does turn pro. Now, that’s one smart kid.

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