Category Archives: Duke Basketball

Duke Basketball

Al Featherston Earns Marvin Skeeter Francis Award

LEWISVILLE, N.C. – Longtime Atlantic Coast Conference college basketball analyst Dan Bonner and the late Al Featherston, who covered the ACC for various outlets for five decades, are the recipients of this year’s Marvin ‘Skeeter’ Francis Award.
The Francis Award, presented by the Atlantic Coast Sport Media Association (ACSMA) recognizes individuals for distinguished service to, or coverage of, the ACC.
Bonner is a Pennsylvania native who played basketball at the University of Virginia from 1972-75, earning Academic All-ACC team honors as a team captain in 1975.
Bonner was an assistant coach for Virginia’s first-ever women’s basketball team before becoming the head coach for two seasons. He has also been a high school girls’ soccer and basketball coach.
Bonner launched his television career calling ACC games on Jefferson Pilot Sports (now Raycom) in 1983. He has also been an analyst for CBS Sports, ESPN and FOX Sports. This will be his 29th year calling the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. He also called games for NCAA Productions for five years and has served as an ACC baseball analyst for Raycom.
Bonner and his wife Terry live in Verona, Virginia. They are the parents of three children and have two grandchildren.
Featherston, a Duke alumnus, joined the afternoon Durham Sun in 1974, and then the Durham Herald-Sun when the city’s morning and afternoon papers combined. He covered Duke, North Carolina, NC State and the ACC as a whole into the 21st century.
Featherston contributed his writing talents to many outlets over the years, including the ACC Sports Journal, Basketball Times, Blue Ribbon Yearbooks, Duke Basketball Report, GoDuke.com, and many others. He also authored a number of books, including The Makings of Heroes: How the 1943 Black Phillies Broke Baseball’s Color Line;  Memorable Stories of Duke Basketball; Tobacco Road: Duke, Carolina, N.C. State, Wake Forest, and the History of the Most Intense Basketball Rivalries in Sports, and battle for Mortain: The 30th Infantry Division Saves the Breakout, August 7-12, 1944.
Featherston passed away on Nov. 5, 2018, due to complications from ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and heart disease.
The award is named in memory of Marvin ‘Skeeter’ Francis, who served as the longtime sports information director at Wake Forest and the first administrator of the ACC’s media services division.
Duke Basketball

Zion Williamson is the ACC Player and Rookie of the Year

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – With a sweep of Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors, Duke’s Zion Williamson leads the league’s 2019 season award winners and the All-ACC basketball team announced on Monday.
Despite being sidelined since suffering a knee injury in the opening minute of Duke’s home game versus North Carolina on February 20, Williamson still ranks third among ACC players in total points scored. His 21.6 points per game scoring average is second among conference players, and he stands third in rebounding at 8.8 per game.
The 6-foot-7, 285-pound native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, has also provided an intimidating defensive presence, ranking fourth in the ACC in blocked shots with 1.85 per game. Williamson received 49 of 70 ACC Player of the Year votes cast by a selection panel consisting of the league’s 15 head coaches and 55 members of the media. Fellow Duke freshman RJ Barrett received 16 votes, while Virginia sophomore De’Andre Hunter was named on four ballots, and Boston College junior Ky Bowman received one vote.
Williamson received 47 votes for ACC Rookie of the Year, followed by Barrett with 21 and North Carolina’s Coby White with two.
Williamson joins former Duke standouts Jahlil Okafor (2015) and Marvin Bagley III (2018) as the only players in the ACC’s 66-year history to be chosen as the league’s Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season.
Virginia’s Tony Bennett is the repeat selection as ACC Coach of the Year after leading the Cavaliers to a 28-2 overall record, a 16-2 league mark and a share of the ACC regular-season title. Virginia holds the No. 1 seed in the New York Life ACC Tournament for the second consecutive season and the fourth time in six years. The Cavaliers own a No. 2 national ranking and lead the nation in several defensive categories.
The ACC Coach of the Year honor is the Bennett’s fourth since he took the helm at Virginia prior to 2009-10 season. He was also recognized in 2014 and 2015.
Hunter received ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, while Florida State sophomore Mfiondu Kabengele was recognized as the league’s Sixth Man of the Year. Louisville sophomore Jordan Nwora received the nod as the ACC’s Most Improved Player.
As ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Hunter has been a mainstay on a Virginia squad that ranks first in the nation in fewest points allowed per game (54.6) and field goal percentage defense (.374). Florida State’s Kabengele has come off the bench in all 31 games to lead the Seminoles in scoring (13.1 ppg) while pulling down 5.7 rebounds per contest. Nwora has emerged as the ACC’s fifth-leading scorer after averaging 12 minutes and 5.7 points per game a year ago as a freshman.
Williamson, Barrett (a league-leading 23.4 ppg) and Hunter (15.2 ppg) are joined on the All-ACC first team by North Carolina’s Cameron Johnson (ACC-leading .469 from 3-point range) and Virginia junior Kyle Guy (15.3 ppg, ACC-leading 97 3-pointers made).
North Carolina senior Luke Maye (14.6 ppg, 10.5 rpg) heads up the All-ACC second team, along with Boston College’s Bowman (19.2 ppg), Virginia’s Ty Jerome (13.5 ppg, ACC-leading 5.3 apg), North Carolina’s White (16.3 ppg) and Virginia Tech’s Kerry Blackshear Jr. (14.5 ppg).
The All-ACC third team includes Louisville’s Nwora (17.3 ppg), Clemson’s Marcquise Reed (19.4 ppg), Syracuse’s Tyus Battle (17.2 ppg), Virginia Tech’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker (16.6 ppg) and Notre Dame junior John Mooney (14.1 ppg, ACC-leading 11.2 rpg).
Williamson, Barrett, White, Pitt’s Xavier Johnson and Duke’s Tre Jones comprise the All-ACC Freshman Team.
In addition to Hunter, the All-ACC Defensive team includes Duke’s Jones and Williamson, Clemson’s Elijah Thomas and Georgia Tech’s James Banks III.
2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Post-Season Honors
All-ACC
First Team
Zion Williamson, Fr., Duke, 350*
RJ Barrett, Fr., Duke, 346
De’Andre Hunter, So., Virginia, 302
Cameron Johnson, Sr., North Carolina, 277
Kyle Guy, Jr., Virginia, 231
Second Team
Luke Maye, Sr., North Carolina, 221
Ky Bowman, Jr., Boston College, 188
Ty Jerome, Jr., Virginia, 177
Coby White, Fr., North Carolina, 171
Kerry Blackshear Jr., Jr., Virginia Tech, 170
Third Team
Jordan Nwora, So., Louisville, 135
Marcquise Reed, Sr., Clemson, 129
Tyus Battle, Jr., Syracuse, 128
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, So., Virginia Tech, 72
John Mooney, Jr., Notre Dame, 71
Honorable Mention
Mfiondu Kabengele, So., Florida State, 69
Cam Reddish, Fr., Duke, 37
Tre Jones, Fr., Duke, 18
Terance Mann, Sr., Florida State, 16
Elijah Thomas, Sr., Clemson, 10
ACC Player of the Year
Zion Williamson, Fr., Duke, 49
RJ Barrett, Fr., Duke, 16
De’Andre Hunter, So., Virginia, 4
Ky Bowman, Jr., Boston College, 1
ACC Rookie of the Year
Zion Williamson, Duke, 47
RJ Barrett, Duke, 21
Coby White, North Carolina, 2
ACC Coach of the Year
Tony Bennett, Virginia, 30
Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech, 12
Roy Williams, North Carolina, 11
Leonard Hamilton, Florida State, 10
Chris Mack, Louisville, 7
ACC Defensive Player of the Year
De’Andre Hunter, So., Virginia, 46
Tre Jones, Fr., Duke, 19
David Skara, Sr., Clemson, 3
Trent Forrest, Jr., Florida State, 2
ACC Most Improved Player
Jordan Nwora, So., Louisville, 30
John Mooney, Jr., Notre Dame, 27
Cameron Johnson, Sr., North Carolina, 5
Mfiondu Kabengele, So., Florida State, 4
Kerry Blackshear Jr., Jr., Virginia Tech, 2
Chris Lykes, So., Miami, 2
ACC Sixth Man of the Year
Mfiondu Kabengele, So., Florida State, 60
DJ Funderburk, So., NC State, 3
Jared Wilson-Frame, Jr., Pitt, 3
Nassir Little, Fr., North Carolina, 2
Braxton Key, Jr., Virginia, 2
ACC All-Defensive Team
De’Andre Hunter, So., Virginia, 60
Tre Jones, Fr., Duke, 56
Zion Williamson, Fr., Duke, 53
Elijah Thomas, Sr., Clemson, 31
James Banks III, Jr., Georgia Tech, 29
ACC All-Freshman Team
Zion Williamson, Duke, 70*
Coby White, North Carolina, 67
RJ Barrett, Duke, 66
Xavier Johnson, Pitt, 40
Tre Jones, Duke, 38
Duke Basketball

Short Handed Duke Falls Short at UNC

The injury bug has been unkind to Duke this season and it struck once again as the Blue Devils lost to North Carolina  79-70 in Chapel Blue Devil Nation (@BlueDevilNation) _ Twitter Hill.

Marques Bolden went out with an MCL sprain and he would later join Zion Williamson who missed his fourth straight game on the Duke bench.

Duke would take a 40-38 lead into the locker room but Coby White hurt them early and often on his way to 21 points.  UNC also had stellar play from their upperclassman and that was just too much for a Duke team missing two of its starters.

The Blue Devils did cut the lead to 5 late in the game as the Dean Dome grew silent but the team didn't quite have the legs to finish the comeback off.

R.J. Barrett led all scorers with 26 points which make him the top freshman scorer in Duke history,  Cam Reddish added 23 points but having 17 at the half, he cooled off a bit.

The Blue Devils fall into the third seed in the ACC Tournament meaning they will play at 9:30 or after this coming Thursday.  Duke will play the winner of Pitt-Boston College where the winner faces Syracuse.

 

Duke Basketball

Zion Williamson Doubtful but a Gameday Decision

Duke Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski said he had his first workout yesterday without contact.  "He will have no contact again today.  I would say he is doubtful for tomorrow but we will make a decision then We are on a good trend here and I am excited about it.  We are getting there, we are getting there," said Krzyzewski.

Duke will head to UNC tomorrow for a 6:05 tip-off and the staff and Williamson will make a decision on whether he plays or not after the shootaround or before tip-off.  Williamson has missed the last four games and the vast majority of the first UNC matchup for Duke which is 3-2 during that stretch.

 

 

More to come shortly...

Duke Basketball

Zion Williamson Likely to Miss UNC Game

After a close win over Wake Forest, Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said that Zion Williamson would likely miss the game at North Carolina.

"This afternoon, Zion actually did some basketball stuff.  Good.  Good.  He is getting more confidence.  I don't think he will be ready on Saturday.  I have to be careful in pushing him and give him a chance to get in game shape.  But I would be surprised if he wasn't ready by the ACC tournament," said Mike Krzyzewski.

Williamson missed his fou8rth consecutive game against Wake Forest.   Krzyzewski said he could know more on Zion Williamson on Friday.

When question again on Williamson, Krzyzewski said we are going to have him back, so it is just a matter of when.

Duke Basketball

R.J. Barrett is the ACC Rookie of the Week

R.J. Barrett has been named ACC Rookie of the Week.
Barrett averaged 31.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists this week, surpassing 30 points in both games as No. 1 Duke improved to 24-3, and remained in a first-place tie in the ACC at 12-2. The freshman scored 33 points with 13 rebounds in Wednesday’s game versus North Carolina and added 30 points on 14-of-20 shooting with seven assists and five boards in Saturday’s win at Syracuse.
His performance Wednesday marked the most points by a Duke freshman in a UNC game and was his sixth double-double. Saturday’s effort marked his career-best shooting night, surpassing his 13 made field goals against Kentucky. Barrett leads the ACC in 30-point games (six – one shy of tying former Blue Devil Marvin Bagley III’s ACC freshman record from last season), and his 20 20-point games are a new ACC freshman record, surpassing the mark of Georgia Tech’s Kenny Anderson (1989-90). Barrett continues to lead the ACC in scoring at 23.3 points (23.6 in ACC games). In addition to his 31.5 points last week, Barrett totaled team highs in rebounds (18) and assists (11).