By: Ben McCormick
December 5, 2022
Although it may seem like Duke's freshman have been less bucket friendly than in season's past, that most certainly will not detract from the hardware they are on-line to compete for by season's end.
Kyle Filipowski was named the ACC Rookie of the Week on Monday, his fourth consecutive win in as many weeks (he is four for four so far). He is the first Blue Devil to earn the recognition in four straight weeks since Jabari Parker did in 2013-2014 (Parker did so in five straight weeks). Filipowski will have the opportunity to notch his fifth consecutive honor this week as the Blue Devils take on Iowa and then Maryland Eastern Shore to close out non-conference play. Unfortunately, the 6'11' forward will not be able to break Parker's record with a sixth straight win as Duke will not play at all the week of Dec. 12.
At 15.2 PPG, Filipowski leads all ACC freshman in scoring. Likewise, he leads all freshman in rebounding at 9.2 RPG (which is top five among all ACC players). The former consensus top-ten recruit (rated as highly as No. 1 overall) has taken home player of the game honors in seven of Duke's first ten games. The stretch forward star looks to be the clear frontrunner for ACC Rookie of the Year thus far, and the most likely man to keep Duke's 15-year 1st Team All-ACC streak alive (the last time Duke failed to place a player of first team All-ACC was 2007).
Filipowski is not the only Blue Devil who has a chance to be recognized for stellar rookie play come March, another four will likely have solid claims as well. If the season were to end today, Mark Mitchell and Tyrese Proctor would likely earn spots on the All-Freshman team alongside Filipowski. As inconsistent as the pair have seemed at times, they still rank 4th and 5th in freshman scoring in the ACC at 9.5 and 7.5 PPG respectively.
Mitchell led Duke in scoring in both its first game and its latest. His career high of 18 points vs. Jacksonville in the season opener got him off to a quick start. The 6'9' forward is a swiss army knife, cutting through defenses with ease. Despite a rocky stretch to end November, Mitchell got back to business as usual with 15 points against Boston College on Dec. 3. The young forward looks to be a likely pick for the All-Freshman team by the year's end if he can keep up his production.
Proctor is a player who turned a lot of heads in the NBA preseason. But the start to his freshman campaign was a bit slow. Despite a lackluster three-point percentage, Proctor has picked up play as of late (even his three-point shot is beginning to fall at more consistent rates). He has increased his scoring average, taken home a player of the game nod, and reminded scouts why he was creeping his way into the lottery of mock drafts before the season began.
I've talked about Whitehead's potential (Here), but Dereck Lively II is another guy who really has the potential to flourish as the season presses on. Lively is already showing vast improvement as he has combined for 19 points in his last two outings, including a career high 11 points vs. No. 25 Ohio State.
Duke has five freshman who all legitimately have a case to be a first round pick in the NBA Draft. Will al five hear their name in the first thirty this season? Likely, no. And that's mostly because I believe at least one or more of them will return to Duke for a sophomore season, but that's a discussion for another day...
This group is just scraping the ceiling of its potential. When all five of these guys are operating at full or even improved potential, this squad becomes deadly. Very deadly.
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