Duke Basketball: Wendell Carter Jr. should win ACC POTY

Duke basketball has had an up-and-down season. Yet, amidst it all, Wendell Carter Jr. has been consistent. Here is why he should win ACC Player of the Year.

This type of season has become the norm for Coach K and Duke basketball as of late. The Blue Devils have a loaded roster filled with NBA-bound freshmen try to blend together their talents and play enough defense to win the National Championship. This year, Wendell Carter Jr. will be the key to them attaining that goal.

The formula of trying to mold freshman into all-around players has resulted in Duke usually treating the regular season like a long preseason scrimmage. The amount of talent on the roster lets them know they can always win the ACC Tournament, so seeding becomes a non-factor.

Despite all this, the Blue Devils sit in second place in ACC with a huge matchup against in-state rival North Carolina at Cameroon Indoor Stadium coming up. And while critics will talk about senior leader Grayson Allen or possible No. 1 NBA Draft pick Marvin Bagley III, it is fellow freshman front-court mate Wendell Carter Jr. that deserves to be the ACC Player of the Year.

Wendell Carter Jr. was 5th in ESPN’s Top 100 for the Class of 2017. He was the crowning jewel of the recruiting class for Coach K until the reclassification of Marvin Bagley III. Carter Jr. is the more polished of the two. He just lacks the explosiveness of Bagley. Following the mild knee injury to Bagley on Feb. 8, Duke reeled off four straight wins. In these wins, Carter Jr. averaged 16.3 ppg and 10.5 rpg. His defense is considerably stronger than Bagley, who he covers up for quite a bit on defense.

Carter averages 2.2 blocks per game and he is rarely caught out of position. With Bagley out, Javin DeLaurier came into the starting lineup as more of a defender/rebounder, while Carter was able to take over the inside scoring load. His versatility has made his a constant for Duke all year.

He has played in all 30 games. This season, Carter is Duke’s leader in defensive rating, but he is also the team leader in true shooting percentage (64%). He can stretch out the defense if needed too. Carter only attempts 1.2 3-pointers per game but he knocks them down at 48.6% clip. This is remarkable outside shooting from the team’s primary rim-protector, a rarity at the college level and even in the NBA.

The 2017-18 Duke Blue Devils season will likely be remembered in history as the season that Due truly took over Kentucky as the place for “one-and-done” NBA prospects. And within the framework of that narrative, Marvin Bagley will be discussed heavily. The discussion of the ways of old Duke vs new will come about as well.

But Wendell Carter Jr. – again, as a freshman – has been the glue that holds this squad together. As of now, he is averaging 14.3 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 2.2 bpg, and shooting 57.6% overall from the field. The advanced metric box plus/minus indicates that Wendell Carter Jr. is by far the most important player if Duke plans to accomplish their championship aspirations. And I would be inclined to agree.