NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of Missouri of last decade
By Joey Loose
6. Jayson Tatum – Duke
One of the nation’s top 5 recruits in 2016, Tatum was another in a long line of 5-star prospects who opted to play his college ball at Duke. A 6’8 forward from St. Louis, he spent just a single season for the Blue Devils before moving on, becoming quite the star at the NBA level. Still, he made quite the impact in that one season in Durham.
In that sole collegiate season, Tatum averaged 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, finishing second on the Blue Devils in both categories. Tatum had a 28-point effort in a road win at Virginia and had a number of great performances as Duke won the ACC Tournament, scoring at least 19 points in all four games. Unfortunately, they were upset in the second round by South Carolina, but that doesn’t take away from a fine season from Tatum and his comrades.
For that year, Tatum was named ACC All-Freshman and on the All-ACC Third Team. He was a blue chip prospect who certainly elevated his game with the Blue Devils, finishing on the conference leaderboards in points, rebounds, free throw percentage, and a myriad of other statistics. He later became the 3rd pick of the 2017 NBA Draft and has starred for the Boston Celtics ever since, making the last three All-Star games.