Duke Star’s Drop in NBA Draft Blamed on Older Girlfriend: Report

NBA experts said Thursday night that Duke basketball star Kyle Filipowski, whose talent and athleticism was widely regarded as being worthy of a first-round pick, likely dropped to the draft’s second round because of some off-the-court oddities involving his girlfriend and family. Specifically, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reported that Filipowski, 20, has been estranged from his parents and siblings for more than two years after they objected to his longtime relationship with 26-year-old Caitlin Hutchison, who they allege was “grooming him” when he was still in high school. Accounts on X claiming to be Filipowski’s loved ones wrote that Hutchison “forced” the basketball star to cut off his family and introduced him into Mormon culture. On the surface, there appear to be some serious red flags in the relationship. For one, an Instagram page for Hutchison shows her smiling alongside Filipowski at his senior prom in 2022 when he was 18 and she would’ve been 24 or 25, the New York Post reported. NBA scouts reportedly asked about the relationship, and Givony said Filipowski’s answers left a lot to be desired.

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