Duke Basketball: 5 reasons why Blue Devils will win ACC title in 2019-20

By Brian Rauf | Aug 30, 2019

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 16: Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils cuts down a piece of the net after defeating the Florida State Seminoles 73-63 in the championship game of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 16, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 29: Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils shoots a three point basket against the Virginia Tech Hokies during the second half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

2) Best returning player in the ACC

The other player that will be in the starting lineup for Duke is sophomore point guard Tre Jones. He was tasked with running the show last year, creating for the Big 3, and playing fantastic defense.

Jones did all of that and looked like a first-round pick for a while before suffering a shoulder injury against Syracuse that limited him the rest of the way (a knee injury against Wake Forest didn’t help, either). An inconsistent shooter to begin with, Jones struggled from deep while dealing with the injuries and wasn’t anywhere near as effective of a shooter.

It got so bad that teams essentially didn’t guard him in the NCAA Tournament.

Now healthy, though, we’ll get to see Jones at his best. He won’t be an elite shooter, but he doesn’t have to be.

Jones is already one of the country’s very best perimeter defenders and will see his offensive game open up with a new supporting cast. He’ll be asked to take on a bigger role so the ball will be in his hands more, sure, but the Blue Devils will also have more shooters on the court, creating more driving lanes and penetrate-and-kick opportunities (they often played without a reliable three-point shooter last year).

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