DUKE BASKETBALL

Zion Williamson has earned yet another post-season accolade as he’s been named the Naismith Player of the Year. He is only the third freshman to ever win the award, and the eighth Blue Devil. This is Duke’s first NPOY since J.J. Redick in 2006.

Congratulations, Zion! I can’t say I’m shocked, but it’s certainly well-deserved!

Read the official release here.

Well, that’s a wrap on the 2018-2019 season – and man, this one isn’t going down easily. This hurts.

Full disclosure: I battled health issues last January-April, and I was too sick to even watch the majority of the games last season. (I watched the Elite 8, and Grayson’s last shot still haunts me.) Now, of course, I’m much better health-wise, and I had so much fun watching this team this season. It meant so much to feel well enough to be excited about basketball again, and damn, did this team make it exciting. I’m not sure we’ll ever see another player quite like Zion Williamson again.

Who knows if we’ll be at full-strength on Sunday against Michigan State. Cam Reddish was, of course, out unexpectedly with a knee injury last night against Va. Tech. According to Reddish: “I tried to go out there and warm up, get it a little bit loose. But it wasn’t at full strength and that’s not a risk I really want to take.” Read more at the Duke Chronicle.

It didn’t seem like Jack White was totally ready to go, either.

However, huuuuuge game for Tre Jones last night – looking a little like his big brother Tyus. Played all 40 minutes, put up 22 points, and dished out 8 assists with 0 turnovers. This steal and lob to Zion was big-time.

STILL DANCIN’.

Duke will take on UCF in the second round of the NCAA Tournament today at 5:15pm (EST).

What to watch for:

UCF’s Tacko Fall says he “won’t allow [Zion] to put me on one of his highlight tapes.” And Zion’s response? “Is he supposed to say I’m going to dunk on him? He said the right thing.” Looking forward to this match-up, for sure.

Duke and Coach K will be going against a familiar face: former Blue Devil and current UCF head coach, Johnny Dawkins. Read the Duke Cronicle’s story on the match-up here.

They’ll be playing the winner of VCU vs. UCF on Sunday.

Duke is the No. 1 overall seed in the East!

A couple of ACC teams mixed in there, a possible Elite 8 match-up with Michigan St. and Izzo, plus we may see Johnny Dawkins in a match-up against UCF in the second round.

I don’t hate it. Let’s do this!

Let’s get Marques back, let’s stay healthy (and maybe work on some more consistent 3-point shooting?), and let’s win the next 6 games.