NCAA Basketball: Buy or Sell preseason top 25 teams of 2021-22 after a month
9. Duke Blue Devils
There has been plenty of anticipation for top-3 overall freshman recruit, Paolo Banchero, to play in NCAA Basketball and he’s been as good as advertised. He played huge roles in Duke’s victories over Kentucky and Gonzaga, on track to go for 30+ against the Bulldogs before cramps got into the way. Banchero currently averages 17.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg on the season and has a case to be ACC Player of the Year.
However, the MVP for Duke has to be breakout star Wendell Moore, averaging a team-leading 17.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 5.6 apg. His all-around play has been very important, as Moore has become the de facto point guard of the team and can score at a high rate. So while sophomores Mark Williams and Jeremy Roach have been solid, the play of Moore as well as freshman shooting guard Trevor Keels has been what the Blue Devils needed to be a top 5 team at this point.
There’s a chance for them to get even better going forward, as top 10 freshman wing AJ Griffin is finally getting minutes after dealing with an offseason knee injury. His minutes have been very limited but did have a season-high 19 points in 22 minutes off the bench against South Carolina State. If he can become part of the rotation and be a solid contributor off the bench, that’ll be another weapon alongside Moore and Banchero.