Duke basketball: 3 pleasant surprises on recently revealed roster

Power shouldn’t be a problem whatsoever for the next Duke basketball squad.

History says 42nd-year Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski is not totally against the idea of adding a recruit or two for an upcoming season during the preceding summer months (see Marvin Bagley’s late commitment in August 2017).

Nevertheless, GoDuke.com now has the 2021-22 roster looking complete, including all 12 players’ official heights and weights.

Of those dozen pieces, three Blue Devils stand out due to highly promising and somewhat surprising measurements.

Signs of improvement regarding Duke basketball muscle

Last season, the freshman-laden Duke basketball team was at least average in the height department. However, overall strength was considerably lacking, and it showed once the games began; perhaps this deficiency played a major part in the Blue Devils winding up with a disappointing 13-11 record and missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 26 years.

Sure, Matthew Hurt had bulked up to 235 pounds for his sophomore campaign.

But the six-deep 2020 class — outside of Henry Coleman — arrived on campus with rather puny physiques in comparison to some of the program’s recent newcomers (see the wildly gargantuan Zion Williamson and extremely well-defined RJ Barrett in 2018).

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This go-round, though, according to the newly revealed roster, a few rookies are significantly larger than their recruiting profiles made them out to be, especially when stepping on the scale.

First, there’s five-star Paolo Banchero, who finished No. 2 on the 247Sports 2021 Composite and was a reported 6-foot-9, 235-pound power forward as a senior year in high school. Now, given his listed 6-foot-10, 250-pound stature since moving to Durham in early June, no doubt should remain concerning the potential lottery pick’s ability to play center when necessary.

Next, remember that five-star AJ Griffin saw his prep ranking slip to No. 15 while evidently boasting a 6-foot-7, 200-pound chiseled frame. Yet per Duke, the small forward has somehow shrunk by an inch but gained more than 20 pounds, coming in as a 6-foot-6, 222-pound well-built machine. With that in mind, his grown-man proportions should be an intimidating sight to foes.

Finally, four-star Jaylen Blakes is the 2021 wildcard with his No. 101 ranking. And although the point guard also seems to have misplaced an inch, his 6-foot-1, 208-pound roster listing is 13 pounds more than 247Sports had him at last season. Given his reputation as a staunch defender, it’s now abundantly clear that frailty won’t be an issue for him when locking up guards and wings.

Assuming all these apparent weight upgrades haven’t dinged the fellas’ quickness, one would think this group of Duke basketball freshmen — also including a 6-foot-4, 221-pound shooting guard in five-star Trevor Keels — should be both sturdier and tougher than the previous collection of newbies.