March Madness is almost here, and all eyes will be on Duke superstar Cam Boozer. How far the Blue Devils go will certainly be on his shoulders, but you don't cut down the nets and win a national championship without key contributions from lesser-heralded contributors.
Duke fans are familiar with that. When the Blue Devils last won the national title in 2015, a little-known (at the time) freshman guard named Grayson Allen was one of the heroes. Before he became a star in Durham, Allen played just nine minutes per game during his freshman season at Duke.
But Allen shone when the lights were the brightest, scoring 16 points in the title game to help lift Duke to a 68-63 win over Wisconsin.
Who could be that guy for Duke this season? Let's take a look at two options.
2 Duke bench players who could be pivotal to a Duke national championship run
1. F Maliq Brown
If Duke is going to win it all, it's going to be led by its defense. The Devils are efficient offensively, but they're not going to overwhelm most teams on that end. They're going to win games defensively, just like they did to top Michigan on Saturday in Washington, D.C.
Senior forward Maliq Brown carries the best defensive rating on the team at 87.3, per sports-reference. That means Duke gives up an average of 87.3 points per 100 possessions when Brown is on the floor. That's elite, even on a team full of elite defenders.
Brown has incredible defensive instincts and can guard every position on the floor. He could play a pivotal role as Duke's defensive stopper in the NCAA Tournament.
2. G Cayden Boozer
Cayden Boozer doesn't carry the workload of his twin brother, but he's still a reliable player with strong basketball instincts. In a shortened rotation, he's still going to be a guy Scheyer asks to play 15-20 minutes per night in March as the team's backup point guard behind Caleb Foster.
Before being held scoreless against Michigan, Boozer had back-to-back 12-point games in wins over Syracuse and Clemson, where he was 10-of-14 from the field.
He and his brother have a preternatural feel for one another when they are on the court, and that two-man game could be an ace in the hole for Scheyer next month.