Duke basketball welcomes strongest Blue Devil of all time

Theo John is now the unofficial “world’s strongest Duke basketball player.”

As of Wednesday, at least in terms of continuous bench reps at 185 pounds, no other Duke basketball player in history has ever tested as strong as the program’s fifth-year grad transfer out of Marquette, Theo John.

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According to the Blue Devils’ official Twitter account, the 6-foot-9, 242-pound power forward now sits alone at No. 1 among all current and former Dukies with his 26 reps.

https://twitter.com/DukeMBB/status/1412855576871292928

John’s total is one more than that of the previous record-holder, Shelden Williams, who served as “The Landlord” down low in Durham for four years (2002-06) while setting career Duke marks in both rebounds and blocks, reaching a Final Four in 2004, and permanently putting his No. 23 jersey number up in the Cameron Indoor Stadium rafters.

A role for Duke basketball enforcer Theo John

Granted, in what will be his lone season with the Blue Devils, John is unlikely to put up Williams-esque numbers. Heck, he’s unlikely to even draw a starting nod.

That said, there’s a strong chance that John’s muscles and experience will make him a crucial component off the bench as the 2021-22 Duke basketball squad chases an accomplishment that Williams never pulled off: winning a national championship.

Between his four years at Marquette, John played in 124 games, averaging 5.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks across his 19.3 minutes per outing while shooting 57.5 percent from the field and 58.2 percent from the foul line.

No, none of those stats are gaudy. However, it’s worth noting that John was a three-year full-time starter for the Golden Eagles and improved as a senior to 8.0 points per game plus 74.0 percent from the foul line while also cutting down on what had been persistent foul trouble in his first three college seasons.