Duke basketball commit fires back at personal attack

With more than a year left before his first college game, one of the nation’s top prep players is already having to deal with aggression from those who bitterly despise Duke basketball.

Oftentimes, silence is the greatest weapon to fend off haters. Sometimes, though, the North Carolina fans, Kentucky fans, and Michael Avenatti’s of the underworld break free from their restraints in order to tweet their most asinine opinions about a Duke basketball family member; at these times, the Blue Devil under attack should speak up.

The latest addition to #TheBrotherhood, five-star 2020 small forward Jalen Johnson, found himself facing such a scenario on Wednesday when a tweet including his name also came with unfounded, unspecific allegations.

The listed hometown of the tweeter who unleashed the serious accusations concerning the minor is Milwaukee, same as Johnson’s, hinting at support for Wisconsin — a.k.a., one of Johnson’s finalists whose fans were left butthurt after Duke picked up the commitment on July 4 from the 247Sports Composite’s No. 4 overall prospect.

Maybe the manure below is rooted in envy. Maybe it’s a spinoff from all the cockamamie chatter about the amateur status of Zion Williamson last season due to Avenatti’s allegations against Nike last week.

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Or maybe it’s just another example of the ever-growing hate for the nation’s most accomplished program across the past 35 years. Whatever it is, here’s what the tweet claims:

"“Love how NCAA, WIAA [Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association], & the national media never looks into the corruption of HS basketball. Case in point: Jalen Johnson. Transfers to Nicolet [Milwaukee] due to AAU coach in ’18. Then Selects Duke. Now transfers to IMG Academy in FL. Nothing to see here. #payforplay”"

Johnson responded to what he saw by quoting the tweet and writing the following:

"“I hate people like this WHO LITERALLY KNOW NOTHING…just pure ignorance”"

Update: Johnson deleted his tweet after this article’s publishing.

Good for Johnson to defend his name. Good for the 6-foot-8, 215-pound 17-year-old — whose well-rounded game sparks memories of former Duke basketball greats Grant Hill and Shane Battier — to go ahead and start getting used to what will continue coming his way as a Blue Devil.

At the moment, five-star point guard Jeremy Roach is the Blue Devils’ only other 2020 commit. In other words, he’s the only high schooler other than Johnson currently at risk of having to deal with what all Duke basketball players sometimes have no choice but to take to the dump: personal attacks full of garbage.

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