Duke basketball: Dream lineup for 2021-22 season

Ideal point guard for 2021-22 Duke basketball team: Jeremy Roach

Incoming Duke basketball freshman Jeremy Roach, who would be a sophomore by the time the 2021-22 campaign rolls around, will not go down as the most athletic point guard in program history. Plus, odds are the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Virginia native won’t be Mike Krzyzewski’s all-time best shooter, defender, ballhandler, or passer either.

What Roach could prove to be, however, is one of the most balanced and reliable backcourt weapons to ever don a Duke basketball jersey.

Granted, the 18-year-old faces a tall order next season — assuming it takes place — as the handpicked replacement for the NBA-bound Tre Jones, who last season as a sophomore co-captain became both the ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Yet remember that as a freshman, even though he was a starter from Day One, Jones wasn’t that same caliber of player, which could also be the case for Roach as a first-year Blue Devil.

Somewhat mirroring the pre-Duke days of Jones, Roach is a second-tier five-star on the 247Sports 2020 Composite (currently No. 23) who put Coach K’s mind at ease by committing well before the start of his senior season in high school. If Roach’s path continues resembling that of Jones — meaning a sophomore year in his future — then Dukies would be in store for quite a delight.

After all, Roach could serve as a relatively experienced on-court director for the four potential studs to come here…