Duke Basketball: Should there be any concern about Kyle Filipowski’s health?
Kyle Filipowski was the star of Duke Basketball last season. Are there any concerns with him after a pair of offseason surgeries?
A big theme of last season for Duke Basketball was unfortunately injuries, as two five-star freshmen were in and out of the lineups due to being hurt. They ended up only being around for one season, as both Dariq Whitehead and Dereck Lively went on to being 1st-round picks in the 2023 NBA Draft.
One five-star freshman that did stick around was Kyle Filipowski, who was statistically the MVP of the team last season. He led the Blue Devils with 15.1 ppg and 9.0 rpg and not only was the ACC Rookie of the Year but he also made the All-ACC 1st Team. Yet even he wasn’t immune to getting banged out and had to deal with some hip issues.
Here at Duke for the program's summer media circuit, starting with Kyle Filipowski and Ryan Young.
— Brendan Marks (@BrendanRMarks) July 12, 2023
Filipowski, who had offseason surgery on both hips, says he anticipates being ready for the start of the season. Should be good for contact toward the end of August.
The good news, and most important, is that Filipowski should be good to go for next season, avoiding missing any games like both Lively and Whitehead had to deal with. Yet still, having surgery on both of your hips is a concern. It’s also important to note that the Blue Devils didn’t land a transfer center this offseason to replace Lively.
So there’s a really good chance that Filipowski could be playing a good portion of his minutes at the five-spot, sharing with returning senior, Ryan Young. It’s much better than recovering from a knee issue but lateral quickness could be a concern, as well as banging down low with a true big man center.
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For Fiipowski’s sake, let’s hope that this is a non-issue months from now. He’s a projected 1st-round pick in many early 2024 mock NBA Drafts and depending on which ranking you look at, is on the team to beat for the 2023-24 NCAA Basketball season. Still, it’s something to quietly monitor once the games get going to see if there’s any lasting effect in how the star big man plays.