Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, and Cam Reddish are off to the NBA but Tre Jones is back to lead another core of fabulous freshmen on the quest to help Mike Krzyzewski win his sixth national championship at Duke.
For most of the 2018-2019 season, the national championship seemed like it was Duke’s to lose. The Blue Devils had brought in one of the nation’s best recruiting classes, and while R.J. Barrett was considered the top prep player, he was quickly overshadowed by his teammate, Zion Williamson.
Williamson made himself into a national sensation overnight with his highlight-reel dunks, and his playmaking wasn’t just limited to the offensive end of the floor. There were also plenty of spectacular blocks on Williamson’s resume, including a leaping block of a three-point attempt against Virginia that made nearly every countdown of best college hoops plays of the year.
Despite all their talent, the Blue Devils came up short in March, with Duke falling in the Elite Eight to Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans’ team. The Spartans weren’t intimidated by the mystique of Duke’s terrific trio of freshmen, sticking to their game plan of remaining patient and finding good shots to get past the Blue Devils.
That loss busted a ton of brackets across the country, and marked the end of the Zion era at Duke, with Williamson, Barrett, and Reddish all declaring for the NBA Draft shortly after the season. One key decision did slip under the radar with fellow freshmen Tre Jones‘ deciding to return to Durham for his sophomore year.
While Williamson and company drew all the headlines at Duke, it was actually Jones who was the glue for Duke last season. Jones scored 9.4 points per game for the Blue Devils, but he also contributed 5.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.9 steals a night to do a little bit of everything for Duke.
The decision from Jones to return also gives Duke something they really haven’t had for a while: a bit of experience in their starting lineup. Outside of Grayson Allen, most of Duke’s teams the past few years have relied heavily on freshmen in the starting five, with the likes of Williamson, Barrett, Marvin Bagley III, and Wendell Carter Jr.putting up big numbers during the regular season.
Those teams have often fallen short in March, with Duke failing to advance to the Final Four since winning the national championship in 2015. While that team featured some dynamic freshmen like Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones, Tre’s older brother, it also featured some key veteran leadership in the form of senior guard Quinn Cook and junior forward Amile Jefferson.
While no one is equating Jones’ experience to Cook or Jefferson, it will be a help to another young Duke team. Duke will also have junior forward Javin DeLaurier, who played a key role in the interior down the stretch, to help shoulder some of the leadership load from Jones.
With those two returning vets as leaders, the Blue Devils have plenty of potential behind another elite recruiting class, which ESPN ranks as the second-best in the country behind Memphis. The headliner is center Vernon Carey, who has the potential to dominate on the interior as a 6’10”, 275-pound beast who will be extremely difficult to match up against.
Another important member of the incoming freshmen class is power forward Matthew Hurt, who spurned offers from Kansas and North Carolina (among others) to play for Krzyzewski at Duke. Hurt is not a particularly dominant athlete like Williamson was, but he is very advanced offensively and should be able to offer plenty on that end of the floor.
The Blue Devils secured some offensive skill with those commitments, but they bolstered their defense as well with the signing of hard-nosed wing Wendell Moore. Moore, a 6’6 forward with a 6’11” wingspan, can be a nightmare matchup for elite scorers throughout the ACC.
Duke also has to be happy with the fact Moore is a very willing passer, which should help the team’s ball movement to create open looks for the likes of Hurt and Carey. Rounding out the latest crop of fantastic freshmen is 6’5 guard Cassius Stanley, who passed on offers from Kansas, Oregon, and UCLA to come to Duke.
Stanley is a truly explosive athlete in the mode of a Latrell Sprewell-type player, and he has drawn rave reviews for his ability to leap out of the gym. While Williamson filled the role of highlight machine for Duke a year ago, it seems Stanley could be ready to assume his place on the SportsCenter Top 10 on a regular basis.
While there is plenty to like with Duke entering the season, there are some concerns about how this group will weather a very competitive ACC. North Carolina has just as much, if not more, raw talent on its roster so the sport’s best rivalry should be dynamic viewing once again. There is also the question of Virginia, which lost a lot of pieces off its national championship team but remains a dangerous out as long as they are coached by Tony Bennett.
One big key for the Blue Devils on the offensive end is their ability to shoot from the perimeter. Duke was one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country a year ago, and it doesn’t appear many of their new additions will do much to help in that regard.
The other big worry for Duke is how these new freshmen will work together to form a coherent defensive team. Duke was a lockdown unit on the defensive end of the floor a year ago, but a lot of credit goes to Williamson, who used his imposing size and athleticism to shut down the paint. That made it easier for the rest of the squad to focus on perimeter defense, and without his presence on the inside, it could take a while for Duke to develop a killer mentality on defense.
If anyone can harness all the talent on this roster, however, it is Krzyzewski. Coach K has fielded elite rosters for years and managed to get the most out of them each and every year, so while the Blue Devils may not have as many highlight-reel moments with Williamson in New Orleans, they are still a unit that will be a national title threat when March rolls around.
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