Duke Basketball: Freshman trio named to the top CBB Award Watch Lists
The Duke Basketball star trio of freshman all have been named as candidates to two of the top awards in all of college basketball.
Not only have the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 recruits been named to the John R. Wooden Award and Naismith Award Watch Lists, but they are all on the same team.
R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson, and Cam Reddish make up possibly the best recruiting class in college basketball history as no team as had the top three recruits since player rankings came into existence.
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To go along with the three studs, the Blue Devils also brought in Tre Jones and Joey Baker to close out their No. 1 Recruiting Class.
Barrett, a Mississauga, Ontario native, has become the face of Canadian Basketball and is looking to continue his success in Durham. Coming to Duke from national powerhouse Monteverde Academy in Florida, Barrett has already been named to the Jerry West Award Watch List, which is given to the top shooting guard in the nation.
The mass of a man that is Zion Williamson comes to Durham from Spartanburg, South Carolina and Spartanburg Day High School. Williamson burst onto the scene for his mesmerizing dunks found on social media, but is out to prove that he is a complete basketball player and not just a dunker. Like Barrett, Williamson was also named to the Watch List for his position, the top award for a power forward, the Karl Malone Award.
The almost forgotten man of this top Duke recruiting class is Cam Reddish but he can be a volume scorer from any place on the floor.
Reddish comes from Norristown, Pennsylvania and a star at Westtown High School. The versatile wing was also named to the Julius Erving Award Watch List, given to the top shooting guard in the country.
These freshman standouts will get the chance to put the Duke uniform on for the first time in a regular season game on Tuesday night as the Blue Devils take on the No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats in the State Farm Champions Classic from the Bakers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana at approximately 9:30 pm ET on ESPN.