I just saw Duke play, and who are those guys?
Full disclosure: I don’t follow recruiting very closely so my interest arrives after I see them play. Why expend any time and energy on some kid who might not come to your school? I am happy when they sign with UNC but want my first impression to come from seeing them in a college game.
It’s the reason the Duke basketball team I saw last night in person has almost complete unknowns to me. Personally, I would rather track Jon Scheyer’s season after he took over for Mike Krzyzewski, who retired following after 42 years in command.
I recognized a couple of names when Duke’s starting lineup was announced before the game with Bellarmine, which plays a version of 1950s basketball very well. One of the first things I noticed about Duke was how quick the Blue Devils were in staying in front of the Knights.
After the game, I looked up the recruiting Class of 2022 and saw that Duke freshmen Dariq Whitehead, Kyle Filipowski and Dereck Lively II were 2-3-4 in last season’s prep ratings. And one of them looks really good to me.
Filipowski, a 7-footer, led the Blue Devils’ 74-57 win with 18 points, including three 3-pointers, 8 rebounds and 2 assists. It will be fun to see the 230-pounder go toe-to-toe with Carolina’s big man and team leader, Armando Bacot. Mark down February 4, 6:30 pm for round one.
Whitehead and Lively are both working themselves back from injuries and were non-factors against Bellarmine, combining to shoot 2 of 6 for 4 points and getting 5 rebounds. On first look, Ryan Young, a 6-10 transfer from Northwestern who will likely be guarding his former teammate Pete Nance, plays relentlessly and could be a big positive off the bench.
Mark Mitchell and Tyrese Proctor are also highly rated recruits who apparently can shoot, as they each knocked down two long balls for the team that took 35 of 55 shots from the arc.
Scheyer praised the all-around play of his maiden team, and most impressive in my mind is aggressive true team defense for a very young bunch. They look maybe like a proto-type old Duke team that slapped the floor and swallowed up the passing lanes.
Like Carolina, Duke plays a nine-man rotation and, so far, relies on junior point guard Jeremy Roach to move the pieces around. Now that I’ve seen them in person, I find myself very interested in how they do.
Featured image via Associated Press/Ben McKeown
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