College Basketball Week 1: 5 biggest takeaways
By Chris Stone
4. Frank Jackson can help Duke weather the injury storm
As has become the norm, the Blue Devils opened their season with back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, defeating Marist and Grand Canyon by a combined 80 points. Many of the storylines surrounding Duke entering the season focused on the roster’s impressive combination of returning talent and high-level recruits, but the Blue Devils played their first two contests with three of their four five-star freshmen. Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden all missed the action due to various ailments and the timetable for their return remains unclear.
Against Marist and Grand Canyon, point guard Frank Jackson stepped in to fill the void. Jackson is the fourth five-star recruit in Duke’s 2016 class, but he is often overlooked in favor of the higher rated Giles and Tatum. That may not be the case much longer as the 6-foot-3 guard scored 39 points in the opening two contests while coming off the bench and posting an impressive 65.5 true shooting percentage. Jackson averaged an unsustainable 31.2 points per 40 minutes, but showed that he can help carry the Blue Devils’ scoring load while the other three star recruits return from injury.
The big question, now, is how well he’ll adjust to tougher competition. Duke heads to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday to face off against Kansas as part of the Champions Classic. The Jayhawks have one of the toughest and most experienced backcourts in the country, but if Friday and Saturday are any guide, then Jackson might just be up for the test.