Tag: Sean Stewart

The five biggest takeaways from Duke’s 79-64 win over NC State

Duke weathered some rough opening minutes and an off shooting night to beat the Wolfpack by 15 on Monday. Here are our most important thoughts on the game.

The Wolfpack scored the first nine points of the game on Monday, but Duke battled back to still win by 15 points by the time the clock hit triple zeros.

The win, led by 21 points from senior Jeremy Roach, set up a dramatic showdown in Cameron this coming weekend. The Blue Devils host North Carolina in the regular-season finale on Saturday, and no matter what happens in UNC’s Tuesday game against Notre Dame, Duke can clinch at least a share of the ACC regular-season title with a rivalry win.

Before any members of Duke faithful get too far ahead of themselves, however, there is still a game to analyze. Here are our biggest takeaways from Monday’s 79-64 victory over NC State.

Five takeaways from Duke’s blowout 73-48 win over Virginia

Five takeaways from Duke’s dismantling of the Virginia Cavaliers.

Saturday was a fun time in Cameron. Everything went right for the Duke Blue Devils as they dismantled Tony Bennett’s UVA team 73-48 as the Blue Devils kicked off March.

From the opening tip, it was apparent that Duke was more focused, prepared, and simply the better team. Kyle Filipowski was dominant, Tyrese Proctor was as well, and the Blue Devils put together one of their most complete performances of the season.

It was a magnificent showing and shows that if Duke has officially turned the corner and is playing their best basketball like this as the next few weeks go on, they’ll give themselves the chance to extend their season into April.

It’s time to share our five takeaways from the easy win.

Which five Blue Devils need to step up the most in Caleb Foster’s absence?

All signs point to the Blue Devils being without freshman guard Caleb Foster, one of six players averaging more than 15 minutes per game, for the postseason. Who needs to fill the void in his absence?

There hasn’t been an official timeline from the team, but all signs seem to indicate freshman guard Caleb Foster will miss most of the postseason, if not the entire thing.

The 6-foot-5 North Carolina native was seen in a walking boot on the bench during Wednesday’s win over Louisville, and head coach Jon Scheyer said the team will be without him “for some time” after the game.

With less than six weeks between then and the national championship, the lack of timetable seems to give Foster low odds for another appearance in 2023-24.

Foster will be dearly missed. He is one of only six Duke players averaging more than 12 minutes per game this season, and he added 7.7 points and 40.6% 3-point shooting to the Blue Devils high-flying offense.

Here are five Duke players who need to step up and help fill the void during Foster’s absence, however long it may be.

Midseason Awards for Duke Men’s Basketball: Jared McCain and Jeremy Roach have been stars

Handing out midseason awards for the 2023-2024 Duke basketball team.

Duke is fresh off the heels of a 71-53 win over Notre Dame to complete a season sweep of the Fighting Irish and now sits just 1.5 back of first place in the ACC behind only the North Carolina Tarheels and the Virginia Cavaliers.

It’s been an up-and-down season by Duke standards. Of course, they aren’t in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament, but it’s reasonable to believe that one or two head-scratching Duke losses have impacted how we view them in totality.

That said, the Blue Devils have everything in front of them, and they have the offensive firepower to beat any team in the country on a given night. Other components must continue to come together, but Duke is a threat.

With over half of their ACC games done, the Blue Devils are just past the midseason point of their conference schedule, so now’s the perfect opportunity to hand out our midseason awards.

Check them out below.

Highlights from Duke commit Sean Stewart’s McDonald’s slam dunk contest victory

Duke commit Sean Stewart took down opponents including Bronny James, Elmarko Jackson and Matas Buzelis. See McDonald’s dunk contest highlights here.

The dunk contest at the Powerade Jam Fest on the first night of the 2023 McDonald’s All-American Game week helped the all-star tournament start with a bang as Duke commit Sean Stewart took down the competition.

With Stewart’s dunk contest win and fellow Duke commit Jared McCain winning the 3-point contest, the Blue Devils swept the Jam Fest. Those weren’t the only two involved in the evening — Stewart got help from soon-to-be teammate Mackenzie Mgbako as well in one dunk.

See highlights below from Stewart’s win over opponents including Bronny James, Elmarko Jackson and Matas Buzelis. The McDonald’s All-American girls game will take place Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. with the boys game scheduled to begin after it ends, around 9 p.m.

WATCH: Bronny James’ dunks at the 2023 Powerade JamFest

Duke signs four commits from their top-ranked 2023 recruiting class

On the first day of the early signing period, Duke signed four of their five commits.

The NCAA’s early signing period began on Wednesday and the top recruiting program in the nation took an early lead.

Duke has the No. 1 ranked class in the 2023 recruiting cycle, currently holding a slim lead (less than one point) over Kentucky. While the Wildcats also got off to a strong start, the Blue Devils won Day 1 of the early signing period, getting four of their top commits to put pen to paper, including three five-star prospects. Here’s a review of who signed.

Montverde Academy (Fla.) 5-star PF Sean Stewart

A tenacious rebounder and defender, Stewart (6-foot-8, 230 pounds) is ranked No. 2 among power forwards in his class and No. 9 nationally, according to the composite score. Stewart also had offers from Georgetown, Stanford, Kansas and Harvard, among others. He told on3 that he chose Duke for its coaching staff.

Centennial (Calif.) 5-star CG Jared McCain

Already a superstar on TikTok, McCain (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) is the third-ranked combo guard in 2023 and comes in at No. 18 in the country. Last season, he averaged 23 points per game. McCain picked Duke over 16 other schools, including Gonzaga, Eastern Washington and Houston.

Notre Dame (Calif.) 5-star PG Caleb Foster

Foster (6-foot-5, 190 pounds) is the third-best point guard in his class and the top-ranked player in the state of California. Gifted with a smooth jumper and and a long frame, Foster averaged 11.9 points and 4.5 assists per game in his Junior year at Oak Hill. He chose Duke over 10 other offers.

Worcester Academy (Mass.) 4-star PF TJ Power

Power (6-foot-8, 210 pounds) is a two-sport star who also plays baseball. In hoops, he’s the No. 1 ranked player in Massachusetts and No. 6 at his position. He called picking Duke an “educated gut feeling,” per On3.

“In the end, I chose Duke because of my educated gut feeling. I understand the opportunity I’ll have there and my heart told me it was the one for me. Playing at a school like Duke has always been a dream of mine but I had to make sure I was choosing the school based on my relationship with the coaches and the feeling I had when I was on campus because that’s guided me the most throughout this whole process. I see the vision with Coach Scheyer and I’m all in.”

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Duke MBB picks up 2nd 2023 commit, 4-star power forward Sean Stewart

With Sean Stewart’s commitment to Duke, the Blue Devils are the first program to lock down a five- and four-star commit in the 2023 class.

Duke men’s basketball’s 2022 class is looking insane, with three top-10 prospects signed, another five-star committed, a four-star shooting guard signed and a three-star center committed.

With those players locked down, the Blue Devils have started making moves on the 2023 front.

On Thursday, power forward Sean Stewart committed to Duke, making the program the first in the country to have received a commitment from both a five- and four-star recruit in the class of 2023.

Stewart, listed at 6-foot-8 and 210 pounds, is a four-star forward out of Windermere (Fla.) High School. He is ranked the fifth-best PF and the No. 33 player in the country on the 247Sports Composite.

Stewart told Sports Illustrated that he is excited for the positionless nature of head coach-to-be Jon Scheyer’s offense and that Duke legend Grant Hill is a family friend.

He chose the program over Stanford, Michigan, Georgetown, Ohio State, Kansas, Howard and Harvard, according to SI.

Duke’s class of 2023 is now made up of Stewart and five-star point guard Caleb Foster, an Oak Hill Academy (Mouth Of Wilson, Va.) star ranked No. 9 overall in the class.

The 2022 signees shows that the departure of Mike Krzyzewski is not affecting recruiting, and the early commits in the class of 2023 show that the program isn’t slowing down.

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