CBS Ranks Duke’s Best Freshmen, But…

Cameron Salerno of CBS ranks the top five newcomers in Duke history. The list isn’t bad:

Cooper Flagg
Williamson, Zion
Jahlil Okafor
Bagley, Marvin
Barrett, R.J.
Not bad, but Tyus Jones and a few more people ought to have been taken into account. On the court, that man was a machine that consistently made the correct choices. A great point guard, he was.

It would be difficult to omit Grant Hill. What were they contemplating?

We would also think about Bobby Hurley. He led his team to the championship game as a freshman, even though he played in a different period and developed into a truly terrific point guard.

JJ Redick ought to be given some thought as well. He was excellent as a rookie, but like Hurley, he developed into a true great.

On a list like this, three freshmen are unavoidable, but we’re sure we’re missing some:

Jim Spanarkel
Gminski, Mike
Duke’s inaugural ACC Rookie of the Year, Gene Banks Spanarkel, was a complete surprise. He was an incredibly intelligent player.

When Gminski arrived at Duke at the age of 16, he quickly established himself as one of the top centers in the ACC, which was noteworthy at the time.

At last, Banks arrived with a great deal of hype and delivered, helping Duke make an amazing run to the national championship game in 1978. Banks was the most captivating player Duke had seen since Art Heyman, and the season was genuinely remarkable. Because Duke was far less than Wake Forest now, he accomplished more for Duke basketball than most people think.