Ball Durham
Fansided

Duke Basketball: Zion Williamson named National Freshman of the Year

By Kevin Connelly

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 24: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils warms up prior to the second round game against the UCF Knights of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 24: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils warms up prior to the second round game against the UCF Knights of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Duke Basketball star freshman, Zion Williamson, has been named as the National Freshman of the Year.

The awards keep piling in for Zion Williamson as the freshman from Spartanburg, South Carolina has been awarded the Wayman Tisdale Award as the National Freshman of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

Williamson won the award over teammate R.J. Barrett, North Carolina’s Coby White, and Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis.

More from Ball Durham

Averaging 22.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.1 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game on the season, shooting 68.4% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range, Williamson trails Barrett for the team lead in points by 0.3 points per game and is tied with Marques Bolden in blocks per game. Zion does lead the team in rebounds and steals per game.

Williamson already won the ACC Freshman of the Year, ACC Player of the Year, and was named as the MVP of the ACC Tournament, in addition to the SportingNews Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-7 monster joins, Luol Deng, Jabari Parker, and Jahlil Okafor as the only Duke players to win the Wayman Tisdale Award.

Zion Williamson is also the favorite for the National Player of the Year Award, and only two players have won both the Wayman Tisdale Award and National Player of the Year Award, Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis.

The Duke Blue Devils defeated the UCF Knights behind 32 points from the National Freshman of the Year and have advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Since returning from a knee sprain suffered on February 20, Williamson has yet to score less than 20 points, with his lowest total coming in the ACC Championship game against Florida State with 21 points.

Zion Williamson and Duke will face an ACC foe in Virginia Tech in the Sweet 16 on Friday night from the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. with a start time at approximately 9:40pm ET and the game can be seen on CBS.

Home/Duke Basketball