Duke basketball could put three on ACC All-Freshman Team

ACC All-Freshman Team candidate: Duke basketball combo guard DJ Steward

In terms of consistency, there’s no other ACC freshman this year who tops Duke basketball two-guard DJ Steward. As a result, also taking into account his 21 points and seven assists versus Syracuse, the 6-foot-2 Chicago native should be the top contender right now to take home the ACC Rookie of the Year Award.

In other words, there is next to zero doubt that Steward, another former five-star, will at least end up as a member of the ACC All-Freshman Team.

Via a sweet mix of soft floaters, strong drives, and smooth pull-up jumpers, Steward has scored in double figures in all but four games this season. He is now shooting 35.4 percent from deep and 81.1 percent from the foul line. And his average of 13.4 points per game still leads all ACC rookies.

On top of that, he is averaging a remarkable 4.1 rebounds for his size while dishing out 2.5 assists and ranking No. 2 on the roster with his 30.5 minutes per game.

Finally, DJ Steward has become an underrated thief of the ball on defense. His average of 1.1 steals trails only the splendid 2.5 per game from Jordan Goldwire among all current Blue Devils.

DJ Steward’s chance of making the ACC All-Freshman Team? 99 percent

The only two instances of Duke putting three players on the same ACC All-Freshman Team came in 2015 (Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow, Tyus Jones) and 2019 (Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Tre Jones).

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