Duke basketball: 3 remaining needs for 2021-22 Blue Devils

Duke basketball’s remaining 2021-22 needs: Another reliable ballhandler

Of the three remaining members of a heralded six-deep 2020 recruiting class, recent chatter suggests Jeremy Roach is the most certain to become a Duke sophomore (note: that doesn’t imply Mark Williams and Henry Coleman won’t also).

Yes, the rookie point guard experienced a bumpy road in his pressure-packed role, often struggling with indecision-related turnovers and never consistently posing a deep-bomb threat with his 31.3 shooting percentage beyond the arc. Roach certainly showed enough potential, though, to become a worthy full-fledged starting floor general under Mike Krzyzewski.

But now that DJ Steward and Jordan Goldwire are no longer in the picture, one has to wonder which Blue Devil will hold down the one-spot whenever Roach gets a breather — or heaven forbid, falls victim to injury.

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Granted, Wendell Moore has somewhat trustworthy handles in a halfcourt setting. On the flip side, he has yet to prove in his two years at Duke to be able to operate a transition attack without keeping his head down and thereby often falling down.

As for Trevor Keels, not only will he have to prove himself as a newbie at the college level in general, but it also doesn’t seem as if he has the necessary lightning speed to blow by roadrunner point guards on offense or to keep up with them on defense.

In other words, while the full-time starter at point guard might be all but set in stone with the promising Roach, the Blue Devils still need at least one more helper on the perimeter.

However, if Krzyzewski does add to the equation an extra ballhandler plus a sprinkling of depth down low and the return of either Mark Williams or Matthew Hurt, then the 2021-22 Duke basketball team should undoubtedly be preseason top five in the country.