The Duke Basketball team banquet was last night and it will be the last time the 2017-18 squad is together for some time.
Many farewells were said to Cameron Indoor and Duke Basketball last night at the annual Duke team banquet.
Trevon Duval, Gary Trent Jr., Marvin Bagley III, and Wendell Carter Jr. are leaving Duke after one season for the NBA. Grayson Allen, the lone senior, is graduating, and former Associate Head Coach Jeff Capel is the new Head Coach of Pittsburgh.
During the banquet, it is a time to look back and reflect on the season while giving out individual awards for a players performance throughout the year.
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To nobody’s surprise, Marvin Bagley III won the Swett-Baylin Team MVP Award. Bagley was the ACC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, averaging 21.0 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.
The Glenn E. “Ted” Mann Award which goes to the player who contributes most to team morale went to Justin Robinson. At the beginning of confernece play when Duke was a little banged up, Robinson filled in nicely to provide great minutes off the bench.
J-Rob saw the floor 17 times this season, but his energy and positive mindset earned him this award. Every Duke player you speak with, past or present, cannot say enough good things about J-Rob, a real credit to his character.
There were two recipients of the Pagliuca Family Coaches’ Award for the commitment and values of Duke Basketball went to Marques Bolden and Javin DeLaurier.
Bolden and DeLaruier were the sixth and seventh men of this year’s team and both should be commended for staying at Duke with the excess of big men talent this year.
Bolden averaged 3.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, while DeLaurier averaged 3.4 points and 4.0 rebounds.
Both players will be major factors in the success of next season’s team, possibly earning the role of captains.
His senior speech wasn’t the only thing Grayson Allen would be recognized for. He took home the Captain’s Award, as well as the Hart Award, which is given to the top scholar on the team. Allen was also awarded the Iron Duke Award, for the player who played the most minutes on the year.
Marvin Bagley made his way back to the stage to receive the best field goal percentage award, as he shot 61.4% from the floor this season, as well as the best rebounding average for his 11.0 rebounds per game.
Gary Trent Jr. didn’t go unnoticed on the night as he won the award for best free throw percentage. Trent was 85 of 97 for the year at the charity stripe, shooting 87.6%. Fellow freshman Trevon Duval won the award for most assists, totaling 207 assists on the season and 5.6 assists per game.
Wendell Carter Jr. won the award for Duke’s best Defensive Player. Once Duke switched to a full-time zone defense, Carter Jr. really anchored the back end and the paint. He provided great rim protection with 2.1 blocks per game and had active hands on the defensive end with 0.8 steals per game.
As this was the last time the 2017-18 Duke Basketball team will be in Cameron Indoor Stadium for some time, it was a great celebration of individual as well as team accomplishments on the season. Despite not achieving their main goal, it was a fun and wild ride with this team and we cannot wait to see what happens next with each of their careers!