Predicting the 2021-22 Duke basketball starting lineup
By Matt Giles
Predicted 2021-22 Duke basketball starting small forward: AJ Griffin
Archbishop Stepinac (N.Y.) five-star AJ Griffin, who ranks No. 7 on the 247Sports 2021 Composite and committed to the Blue Devils 16 months ago, hasn’t seen much action as a prep senior due to his state’s pandemic-related restrictions. Moreover, last season, he spent a chunk of his time on the sideline nursing a knee injury. Therefore, there’s a bit of cause for concern among worrywarts.
However, as the namesake son of Toronto Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin and consistently one of the top handful of names on 2022 mock drafts, there ought not to be too many reasons to fret over how AJ Griffin’s game will turn out in what is likely to be a one-and-done stay at the college level.
Maybe the quickest way to describe the athletic Blue Devil signee is that his highlight videos give off vibes of 2014-15 Duke basketball one-and-done national champ Justise Winslow. Muscles. Pure energy. Champion? Not going there yet, but it should undoubtedly help to have the 6-foot-7 small forward as part of the equation on the court with this next newbie…