Duke basketball: The Blue Devil who must step up next season

One particular Duke basketball returnee must serve as an unshakeable force.

The talent is there. The motivation is there. Now, the perfect storm necessitating a Duke basketball title run in 2022 is but a single piece away.

That piece is seemingly small and irrelevant. But make no mistake, folks: finding this piece could be the difference between a second-weekend tournament exodus and a sixth banner being raised in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

In this era of one-and-done Blue Devils, a solid veteran presence is needed to keep the troops in line and at times provide the juice for an otherwise lost and inexperienced lineup.

See Quinn Cook as a senior in 2015. That eventual Duke basketball championship squad was filled with grown men posing as freshmen but still sometimes needed a father figure on the court throughout the season.

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The road game at Virginia that season was case in point. With time winding down and both teams neck and neck, Cook nailed a three that silenced the crowd and shot life into a group of Blue Devils who looked young that day.

The rest is history. Tyus Jones hits the dagger three against the Cavaliers, and the Duke basketball freshman class ceased to be rookies any longer, going 18-1 from that game forward and hanging the program’s most current banner.

While Cook is now seeking employment in the NBA, a player on the 2021-22 roster can hopefully take the reins and steer the Blue Devils to the promised land…

The importance of Duke basketball veteran Wendell Moore

Rising junior forward Wendell Moore has seen, for lack of more creative words, a weird two years at Duke so far. The former five-star recruit has averaged 8.6 points per game for his college career. Yet he has also struggled with turnovers and seemed tuned out of games at times.

I personally touted Moore as the X factor for the Dukies in their endeavors last season. And while I was totally wrong in regard to him being a top offensive weapon, I believe he will be just as imperative this season in steadying the ship for the young guns who are soon to arrive in Durham.

The 2021-22 version of the Blue Devils is likely to be led by transcendent talent Paolo Banchero, and his partners in crime on a nightly basis should be tough-as-nails freshman forward AJ Griffin and freshman sharpshooter Trevor Keels.

Human tree Mark Williams and point guard Jeremy Roach, both entering their sophomore campaigns, will probably round out the majority of the minutes and points for Duke next season.

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All of that talent is great on paper. Put the youth up against a full ACC slate, though, and even the most dazzling of teams can come up short.

None of these freshmen and sophomores have ever encountered a full-fledged ACC road game, complete with opposing fans packing the house and refs like Teddy Valentine making over-the-top calls against the Blue Devils — simultaneously energizing the crowd — and utilizing enough leg kicks to make a Vegas showgirl jealous.

When all these things come to a head in the dog days of February, it behooves the Duke basketball squad to have an upperclassman like Moore to keep everybody’s head in the game.

Sure, senior wing Joey Baker has shown more of a propensity to get animated and lead by sacrifice. However, Moore will more than likely garner the minutes and opportunity, making him the more ideal candidate.

Moore did make a leap in his 3-point shooting percentage from his first to his second year at Duke, going from 21.1 percent in his first season to 30.1 percent last year. Improving said percentage again while also turning the ball over less often should lead to meaningful minutes late in games.

While the Blue Devils won’t be counting on Wendell Moore to be the leading scorer every night, they will certainly be counting on him to be a steady, calming presence every night.

And with the talent already inbound, that steadiness may be all the Duke basketball program needs to hoist another natty banner in Cameron next year.