With Duke’s period formally in the books, the Blue Zone breaks down every player’s year, which include comparisons to their preseason projections. We now seemed at Jaylen Blakes, Jaden Schutt, Jacob Grandison and Ryan Younger. Future up is Mark Mitchell:
Mark Mitchell
Yr: Freshman
Peak: 6-foot-8
Placement: Ahead
This year’s statline: 9.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.2 APG, 27.1 MPG
The Blue Zone’s projected statline: 9.5 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.2 APG, 21 MPG
Period Breakdown: With five-star recruits Dereck Energetic II and Dariq Whitehead out to start off the 12 months, freshman Mark Mitchell was thrown into the hearth on working day a single. The 6-foot-8 ahead begun out the calendar year scorching, scoring 18 and 13 factors in his first two game titles as a Blue Satan. As envisioned, when Whitehead returned to the flooring as a sixth man, Mitchell’s scoring output dropped.
Nonetheless, some of Mitchell’s ideal offensive video games came playing alongside Whitehead. To beat Xavier 71-64, he poured in 16 details on 54.5{b037f4174007d005f1ab9cb8d1aafc050eb5d7e8c07298e478acc145e540df6a} capturing, and in Madison Square Yard, Mitchell’s 17 factors led Duke to a 74-62 victory against Iowa.
Really, the Kansas Town, Kan., native’s part on this roster was as an athletic defensive presence. As just about every Blue Devil fan could see in Duke’s 65-52 match decline to Tennessee, Mitchell’s absence thanks to a lower overall body injuries performed a major part with the Volunteers’ Olivier Nkamhoua’s offensive explosion. All in all, the freshman forward’s consistency was his strongest attribute: his size alone bothered opposing wings every match. In most likely Mitchell’s most critical defensive perform, a chasedown block from a driving Boston School guard secured the Blue Devils’ nail-biting victory at Boston College or university.
Right after a successful calendar year, Mitchell’s future is up in the air.
Effects relative to anticipations: Though the Blue Zone aptly predicted Mitchell’s offensive output, his defensive talents far exceeded anticipations for head coach Jon Scheyer’s squad. Recreation by video game, he was a person of Duke’s most constant defenders, and the freshman ahead seemed to engage in his most impactful minutes as the calendar turned to March.
With the inevitable departure of a few Blue Devils this offseason, Scheyer will be hoping that Mitchell returns to perform his sophomore yr. By performing so, he will be 1 of the Duke’s most significant contributors come the 2023-24 period.
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