Tag: Zion Williamson

Four former Duke Blue Devils named to ESPN’s top 25 NBA players under 25

ESPN released its list of the 25 best NBA players under the age of 25 on Monday, and four former Duke basketball stars made the cut.

No men’s college basketball program has accumulated more top talent over the last five years than the Duke Blue Devils, so understandably, the NBA is full of young talents who played their college ball at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

ESPN released its ranking of the top 25 NBA players under the age of 25 on Monday, and a quartet of former Blue Devils made the list thanks to their strong first few seasons.

[autotag]Paolo Banchero[/autotag], the most recent Blue Devil chosen with the No. 1 overall pick, contended for the top overall spot on the list. He’s missed the past month with a torn right oblique, but he put together his first career 50-point night against the Indiana Pacers on October 28. He finished that 119-115 victory with 13 rebounds and nine assists, one of the best games by any player so far this season.

Here’s a breakdown of every former Blue Devil who made the top 25:

Paolo Banchero, No. 3

Banchero led the Orlando Magic to the playoffs last year, his second season in the NBA. He averaged 22.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.4 assists, a noticeable leap from his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2022-23 (20.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists). He looked like a potential All-NBA candidate through five games to start this season, pushing his scoring average to 29.0 thanks to his first 50-piece, and Magic fans eagerly await his return to the court.

Zion Williamson, No. 16

Williamson has been a dominant player on the court ever since his days in Durham, and he’s averaged 24.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game across his NBA career. However, he’s only played 190 games over his six-year career, well below half of his potential appearances.

“The concern is whether injuries are taking a toll on the athleticism that makes Williamson a special player,” ESPN’s Kevin Pelton wrote in his ranking snippet.

Jalen Johnson, No. 17

Johnson didn’t bloom as fast as Williamson and Banchero in the NBA, only starting six games over his first two seasons, but he burst onto the scene with 16.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.2 steals in 2023-24. Now a fourth-year player rewarded with an offseason extension, he’s somehow improved on all four of those numbers through 21 games this year.

Dereck Lively II, No. 19

The darling of the Dallas Mavericks run to the NBA Finals, Lively averaged 7.9 points and 7.4 rebounds with four double-doubles in just 22.0 minutes per game during his rookie postseason. The 7-footer is working his way into the starting lineup at just 20 years old, and so far in year two, he’s averaged 8.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.6 blocks per contest.

Ranking the Top 19 teenagers in NBA history

HoopsHype uses stats and accolades to determine the 19 best teenagers in NBA history, including LeBron, Zion, Luka, Wemby and more.

Fewer than 200 people in history have appeared in an NBA game as a teenager. And an even smaller – and more elite – group has performed well in the NBA prior to turning 20 years old. In fact, to this day, only one player in NBA history has achieved All-Star honors in their age-19 season or younger. (You might know who that is but as a hint: He wore purple and gold his entire time in the NBA.)

Today, we are going to take a look at the 19 best teenagers in NBA history, a list featuring some of the biggest names the league has ever seen and a few other names who unfortunately wound up disappointing after hot starts to their careers.

Cameron Boozer, 2025 Duke basketball commits officially sign with the Blue Devils

Duke officially inked its third number-one recruiting class of the Scheyer era with four signees, including star forward Cameron Boozer.

The Duke basketball program has relocated to Arizona for Friday’s massive matchup with the Wildcats. While all the focus centers on how the Blue Devils will conquer their first top-25 opponent of this young season, head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] and the rest of this program’s staff will silently be able to let out a sigh of relief.

The early signing period has come, meaning commits from the class of 2025 are now eligible to sign their national letter of intent and officially pledge themselves to their schools for next year.

Duke inked four top prospects on Thursday, and the Blue Devils’ social media posted graphics and videos highlighting the signings of the Boozer twins, Shelton Henderson and Nikolas Khamenia.

Duke didn’t have a single commitment at the start of last month, but Cameron and Cayden Boozer, sons of Duke legend Carlos Boozer, got things rolling by hopping in the boat on October 11. In many ways, they were the biggest domino for Duke’s 2025 recruiting cycle as the Blue Devils would see their other two commitments come on board shortly after that in the following weeks.

Cameron, the nation’s second-ranked player in the 247Sports rankings, is often labeled the most complete high school player regardless of class. He will fit right into the shoes of Cooper Flagg, Zion Williamson, Paolo Banchero, and Jayson Tatum as an “alpha” freshman for Duke to essentially play around next year.

Cayden Boozer is a talented guard in his own right, but he’s less heralded than his twin brother. Cayden is a point guard, a position Duke will have its eye on all offseason, especially if Duke loses the services of Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor at the end of this season. Many believe Cayden could be a multi-year point guard like Tre Jones.

Shelton Henderson, another five-star player, is a high-ceiling wing who best projects as a two-way star. He can slash his way to the hoop and create for himself and others. Henderson is an excellent positional rebounder, and his defense is incredible. He’s also physically mature, and he uses his size well. The best way to describe Henderson is a higher-ceiling version of Sion James in every way.

Lastly, four-star combo forward Nikolas Khamenia officially joins the Blue Devils. He committed less than two weeks after the Boozers did, making him the third member of the class. Khamenia excels playing inside out and has an incredibly high basketball IQ, which allows him to be an elite distributor and playmaker from the wing. He is a perfect connective player because he also shoots the ball well. He can slot in several ways for Jon Scheyer next year, making creating lineups and matchups much easier.

Duke’s class is set to be the top class in the nation for the third time in the Scheyer era. The Blue Devils also paced the 2022 and 2024 recruiting rankings.

Duke isn’t finished, either. There is a real chance that Duke will add one more player to this class in the form of Nate Ament, 247Sports’ No. 4 overall prospect. Ament is another high-ceiling player who stands 6-foot-9 and can handle the ball and shoot at a tremendously high level. His best days of basketball are well in front of him.

Ament will decide after the season and will likely let the process play out until the high school all-star game circuit before committing.

Former Duke basketball star Zion Williamson sidelined indefinitely with hamstring strain

Former Duke basketball star Zion Williamson is sidelined again with an injury, this time a hamstring strain.

Former Duke basketball star [autotag]Zion Williamson[/autotag] got bit by the injury bug once again on Saturday.

ESPN reporter Shams Charania reported that the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft will miss an undetermined amount of time with a hamstring strain. He’s considered out indefinitely.

Williamson has been incredibly effective on the court since his rookie season, averaging 24.6 points per game across his career with at least 22.5 in every season, but he only played 184 out of a possible 390 games across the first five seasons of his career.

He’d played in six games to start the 2024-25 season, putting up 22.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 0.7 steals.

Williamson made waves as the freshman in Durham, averaging 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.8 blocks, and 2.1 steals en route to national player of the year honors. Khaman Maluach, a freshman center on this year’s team, said his family in South Sudan recognized Duke from the highlight tapes they watched of Williamson.

Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor name their all-time Duke basketball starting five

Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor, the two returning Duke basketball starters, named their all-time Blue Devils starting five on Wednesday.

When a basketball program has as many legends as the Duke Blue Devils, it’s incredibly fun to debate which five players would create the best starting lineup.

On Wednesday, returning starters Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor became the latest players to build their all-time Blue Devils lineup.

Proctor went first and named Kyrie Irving, JJ Redick, Jayson Tatum, Zion Williamson, and Christian Laettner as his team.

Laettner, of course, helped Duke win consecutive national championships in 1991 and 1992, and he’s still the school’s all-time leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament. Irving, the first overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft, won an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and returned to the Finals with the Dallas Mavericks this past season, where he lost to Tatum and the Boston Celtics.

Tatum, who made his third straight First Team All-NBA squad, also made program history as the first Duke men’s basketball alum to win multiple Olympic gold medals in Paris this summer.

Foster also included Irving and Williamson in his starting five, but he added Jason Williams and Orlando Magic star Paolo Banchero to his lineup. The most recent of five No. 1 NBA draft picks in school history, Banchero led the Magic to the playoffs this past season.

Foster also earned some potential points with the Duke staff when he included head coach Jon Scheyer, who won a national championship with the Blue Devils as a player in 2010, on his team.

Top-ranked freshman Cooper Flagg answered the same question on The Brotherhood Podcast this summer, and he went with the same lineup that Proctor rolled out.

Duke basketball freshman Khaman Maluach says family members recognize Zion Williamson

Khaman Maluach, a freshman from South Sudan, said his cousins don’t recognize Duke basketball, but one Blue Devil catches their attention.

In South Sudan, where Duke basketball freshman [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] is from, the Blue Devils basketball brand doesn’t hold the same weight as it does here.

During the team’s media day on Friday, the first-year 7-footer said that his younger cousins didn’t recognize the school when he told them where he committed. When he brought up one name, however, everything clicked.

“Back in my place, when I try to explain to my little cousins that I’m at Duke, they don’t get it,” Maluach said. “But when I tell them I’m at [autotag]Zion Williamson[/autotag]’s school, they get it.”

Williamson, who now plays for the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA, was a national sensation in his only collegiate season. He averaged 22.6 points per game, tied for the most by a freshman in school history, and added on 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.1 steals, and 1.8 blocks en route to national player of the year honors.

He went first overall in the 2019 NBA draft later that summer, one of five No. 1 picks in school history.

Maluach said Williamson’s highlights also helped him become aware of the Duke basketball brand despite living on a different continent when the Blue Devils star ruled the college landscape.

Maluach is no slouch for his part, either. He represented South Sudan at the 2024 Olympic Games this summer at just 17 years old, and as a five-star prospect, he’s expected to be a lottery pick in the 2025 NBA draft.

Junior Tyrese Proctor said on The Brotherhood Podcast earlier this week that the 7-foot-2 freshman’s mere defensive presence will bother teams.

“Even if he’s just there, he’s in the back of your mind,” Proctor said.

‘I don’t think he likes the attention,’ Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer says of Cooper Flagg

“I don’t think he likes the attention,” Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer said of Cooper Flagg on Friday. “Wants to be just like the other guys.”

Duke basketball freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] comfortably feels like the most anticipated high-school prospect since former Blue Devil [autotag]Zion Williamson[/autotag].

After an undefeated senior season at Montverde Academy and some viral clips of him scoring against the U.S. Olympic team during training camp scrimmages, Flagg earned the top spot in every national recruiting ranking and feels like a shoo-in for the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft.

Just don’t expect those expectations to matter much to the new Blue Devil.

During the team’s media day on Friday, head coach Jon Scheyer said Flagg does a great job showing up and putting effort in during practice despite the level of attention he already receives.

“I don’t think he likes the attention, to be honest,” the third-year Blue Devils coach said. “Wants to be just like the other guys.”

The competitiveness and dedication Flagg shows during training has been highlighted over and over with Scheyer himself saying it was the main thing that drew him toward Flagg during the recruiting process.

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Scheyer also made it clear to fans that Flagg, who won’t turn 18 until December, will need time to adjust as he plays among 22 and 23-year-old college athletes.

“Beginning of the season, he’s going to go through some stuff,” Scheyer said. “That’s part of it. But being there for him in those moments and then growing as a player is why he came to Duke.”

Duke basketball teases photos of Cooper Flagg in a Blue Devils jersey

The Duke basketball team shared a sneak peek of top-ranked freshman Cooper Flagg in uniform on Friday night.

Duke basketball fans are about to get a lot more [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] content on their social media feeds.

The Blue Devils posted about the top-ranked freshman again on Friday night, this time with some photos from the team media day. The Maine native wore the No. 2 jersey that’s surely about to become the most iconic image on campus, posing with a basketball.

The consensus No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2024, Flagg is the most anticipated Duke basketball commit since the days of [autotag]Zion Williamson[/autotag]. He led Montverde Academy to an undefeated season as a senior before scrimmaging against Team USA at Olympic training camp, earning praise from Kevin Durant and NBA scouts.

Ever since he first committed to the Blue Devils last October, fans have eagerly awaited his debut at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Now, Flagg is less than two weeks from his first appearance in front of the Cameron Crazies. He’ll play twice in October, first at the Countdown to Craziness on October 4 before an exhibition against Arizona State on October 27.

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Duke basketball freshman Cooper Flagg signs NIL deal with New Balance

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, the top-ranked player in the Class of 2024, announced an NIL deal with New Balance on Monday.

[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the top-ranked freshman in the country and Duke basketball’s next big star, announced an NIL deal with New Balance on Monday.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the agreement, which Flagg said partially came about because of the company’s connection to his home state of Maine. In fact, he grew up less than 30 miles from a New Balance factory.

“My mom used to go to the tent sale for back-to-school shopping there when we were kids,” Flagg said in the ESPN story about the partnership. “That really aligns the brand with my roots. It’s a perfect fit.”

Few incoming freshmen have ever amassed a national profile like Flagg’s before playing a collegiate game. Despite reclassifying from the Class of 2025, the incoming Blue Devil still finished atop every national recruiting ranking. He led Montverde Academy to an undefeated season, taking down future teammates Darren Harris and Patrick Ngongba II at the Chipotle Nationals championship game, before stealing the show at Team USA Olympic training camp with the Select Team.

Despite sharing the court with NBA players, some scouts said he looked like the best player on the court for the Select Team, and he went viral for one stretch with back-to-back baskets.

Flagg, the most anticipated Blue Devil since [autotag]Zion Williamson[/autotag], makes his Cameron Indoor Stadium debut at the Countdown to Craziness on October 4.

Former Duke basketball star Dereck Lively II breaks into NBA 2K Top 100 after rookie year

After his rookie season included a trip to the NBA Finals, former Duke basketball star Dereck Lively II made the top 100 players in NBA 2K25.

NBA 2K began slowly releasing its top 100 players in the upcoming edition of the popular video game, NBA 2K25, on Monday.

While top Duke names like [autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] and [autotag]Zion Williamson[/autotag] need to wait to find out where they fit in the NBA hierarchy, one former Blue Devil got some great news in the first round of the release.

Dereck Lively II, the center who just finished his rookie season with the Dallas Mavericks, came in as the 98th-best player in the game with an 81 overall rating.

Lively went to the NBA Finals in his debut season, putting up four double-doubles over the course of Dallas’s playoff run. He earned national praise for his performance in the second round, getting a shoutout from the dictionary as the Mavericks unseated the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

The seven-footer averaged 8.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game as a rookie, making the starting lineup 42 times in the regular season.

RJ Barrett, another former Blue Devil who just reached the Olympic quarterfinals with the Canadian national team, also earned an 81 overall rating, finishing 86th on the ranking.