Duke basketball: The 10 greatest NBA Blue Devils of all time

All-time top 10 Duke basketball pro: No. 3 Jayson Tatum

There are few hotter names right now than Jayson Tatum. At age 22, in just his third year as a pro, the 2016-17 Duke basketball one-and-done is coming off a first-round playoff sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers, in which the St. Louis native averaged 27.0 points and 9.8 boards for the Boston Celtics while knocking down 14 of his 31 attempts from deep (45.2 percent).

This season, the versatile-forward franchise player has averaged 23.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and almost three 3-pointers per game. Keep in mind, too, that he’s done so for one of the top teams. It’s also worth noting that Tatum has a wealth of playoff experience for a guy his age, having already challenged LeBron James in a seven-game series as a rookie.

Should Tatum’s playoff prowess continue through September and result in a championship — assuming the former No. 3 overall draft pick continues to embrace the No. 1 role on the squad the rest of the way — he’d quite possibly jump ahead of the next Blue Devil on this list. For now, though, he’s still lacking what his former Celtics teammate has: a ring.