Duke basketball: 20 serious concerns about 2020-21 Blue Devils
By Matt Giles
Question No. 2 for the 2020-21 Duke basketball team…
Is the overall talent in Durham worthy of Duke’s top 10 preseason ranking?
The preseason AP Top 25 came out on Monday with Duke at No. 9. Therefore, the 2020-21 Duke basketball squad extended the program’s streak of starting out inside the rankings to 25 years. Also, this marks the 13th consecutive season with the Blue Devils in the top 10, though they only squeaked in this go-round.
Whether Duke actually boasts one of the 10 best collections in the country, well, that remains to be seen. Perhaps. Perhaps not. On paper, as the No. 9 ranking implies, one could argue either stance.
Sure, five players ended their high school careers as five-stars: freshmen Jalen Johnson, Jeremy Roach, DJ Steward, and Mark Williams plus sophomore Matthew Hurt. On the flip side, Hurt rarely played like a five-star last season, and three freshmen were on the fringe of being four-stars in Roach, Steward, and Williams, three of the nation’s six lowest-ranked five-stars (No. 23-28)…