Duke basketball forward Kyle Filipowski named as youngest All-American

Duke basketball forward Kyle Filipowski was named as the youngest All-American this season. 

Typically there is a star freshmen that is headlining the Associated Press All-American list and this year there is a Duke basketball standout who is the youngest in the collection of five players.

But it’s not a freshman. It’s sophomore Kyle Filipowski.

College basketball has gotten very old over the last several years and the teams that have typically won the National Championship have rosters filled with upperclassmen. While Duke does have a talented class of freshmen entering Durham this, the four sophomores that return are the most important — as well as senior guard Jeremy Roach.

Filipowski is coming off a season in which he was named as the ACC Rookie of the Year and a Second Team All-ACC selection after he averaged 15.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

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The 5-star recruit led Division I freshmen with 16 double-doubles and was named as the Most Valuable Player of the ACC Tournament but underwent double hip surgery following the season on an injury that had been bothering him since high school.

Filipowski has said that the surgery would allow him to become more athletic and explosive on the court this season and it showed in Duke’s 16-minute intrasquad scrimmage on Friday night in which he had five points and an explosive dunk in the final minute.

Duke basketball superstar lone underclassman on prestigious list

Purdue’s Zach Edey was an unanimous selection to the preseason All-American team while Marquette’s Tyler Kolek, Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson, and North Carolina’s Armando Bacot were also named to the team alongside Kyle Filipowski.

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The other four players are all seniors for their respective programs.

Duke, the No. 2 ranked team in the Preseason Associated Press Top-25 Poll, will open the season on Monday, November 6 against Dartmouth (9:00p.m. ET) inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.