Duke Basketball Preview 2021

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Oct 27

Our Duke basketball preview 2021 - 22 notes that the Blue Devils (13-11 Overall, 9-9 ACC) missed the Big Dance for the first time since 1995, Expect this to be a rebound season for head coach Mike Krzyzewski (1,097-302 Duke/41 years, 1,170-361 Overall/46 years) and company. This is the longtime head coach’s final season at the helm, as associate head coach Jon Scheyer preps to take over. Will Coach K be able to get to the NCAA Tournament and go deep one last time?

Blue Devils Frontcourt

Blue Devils’ center Mark Williams, who returns for a second season, came on strong late last season, as he averaged 16.7 PPG over his last half-dozen games. Senior Theo John, a senior transfer who started 87 games with Marquette, brings a huge amount of experience to the paint. Also, two quality recruits, forwards Paolo Banchero and A.J. Griffin, have the chops to play immediately, making important contributions. Griffin, an anticipated NBA Draft pick, brings substantial size to the front.

Duke Basketball Preview – Backcourt

There’s plenty of depth at the point and wing spots. Junior Wendell Moore, who averaged 9.7 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.7 APG last season, is a 41.7/30.0/84.8 shooter. He brings the most experience to the backcourt of any Duke player. Freshman Trevor Keels brings needed size to the shooting guard position. We expect that sophomore Jeremy Roach, who averaged 8.7 PPG and 2.8 APG, will start at point. Last year, he improved his three-point success rate to 31.3 percent. Our Duke basketball preview 2021 - 22 finds that freshman Jaylen Blakes is a sound, two-way player.