Who Is Going To Take The Place Of AJ Griffin Who's Sidelined With Knee Injury When Duke Host Georgia State For Exhibition Game, Begins Regular Season?
AJ Griffin is a A five-star small forward out of Archbishop Stepinac in White Plains, N.Y.
Ranked as the No. 9 overall player in ESPN 100's rankings for the class of 2021
Also ranked No. 1 in the state of New York and the No. 1 small forward in the ESPN 100
Won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2019 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, averaging 13.5 points and a team-high 3.3 steals per game in six contests
Averaged 17.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game in 12 appearances his junior season at Archbishop Stepinac
His father, Adrian Griffin, played 10 seasons in the NBA and is currently an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors
Committed to Duke on November 4, 2019
Chose Duke over Kentucky, Kansas and Villanova, among others
“according to AJ Griffin’s biography on goduke.com”
Unfortunately though the start to AJ Griffin’s freshman season on the hardwood at Duke has to be put on hold after spraining his knee in practice on Friday.
Why?
Because AJ Griffin is going to be out for an indefinite amount of time.
“according to an article by Stephen Wiseman in the newsobserver”
With AJ Griffin sidelined with knee injury this question comes to mind!
Who is going to take the place AJ Griffin when Duke plays, hosts Georgia State, begins the regular season verses Kentucky?
Mike Krzyzewski who is coaching his last season at Duke in 2021-2022 before he retires, before Jon Scheyer who currently is an Associate Head Coach has options when comes to who he could start verses Georgia State in Duke’s lone exhibition game on October 30, 2021 in Durham and on November 9, 2021 when Duke begins the regular season verses Kentucky in the State Farm Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden and beyond until AJ Griffin is able to make his collegiate debut on the hardwood for Duke.
His options are Wendell Moore Jr. who is junior!
Paolo Bancharo who like AJ Griffin is a freshman, Theo John who is a graduate student who transferred from Marquette to use his fifth eligibility that was given because of coronavirus that in 2021 is still affecting us.
Joey Baker who is a senior!
As freshman in 2020-2021, Wendell Moore Jr was on All-ACC Academic Team
Played in 25 games with 11 starts, averaging 7.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists
Upped his scoring and rebounding averages in ACC play to 8.0 points and 4.6 rebounds
Finished with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in 15 minutes off the bench against Colorado State (11/8)
Made his first two career starts against Cal and Georgetown as Duke won the 2K Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden
Totaled 27 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in the wins over Cal and Georgetown, including 17 points, six boards and three assists in the title game win over the Hoyas
Netted 12 points and logged five boards in his ACC debut at Virginia Tech (12/6)
Tied then-career high in rebounds (seven) and steals (four) to go along with 10 points in the win against Brown (12/28)
Contributed 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting at Miami (1/4)
Missed six games midseason with a hand injury
Made one of the plays of the year nationally with a game-winning tip-in at the buzzer in overtime as Duke beat North Carolina, 98-96 (2/8)
Finished the UNC win with his first career double-double, scoring 17 points with a career-high 10 rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting and 7-of-10 at the free throw line
Erupted for a career-high 25 points at Wake Forest (2/25), going 5-of-8 from the field and 15-of-16 from the foul line -- the 15 made free throws setting a Duke freshman single-game record
The Wake performance allowed him to establish a Duke freshman single-game record for fewest field goal attempts (eight) in a 20-point game
Became the first Blue Devil to make 15 or more free throws since Grayson Allen (3/17/16)
As a sophomore in 2020-2021 Wendell Moore Jr. was on All-ACC Academic Team for the second straight season
Played in all 24 games for the Blue Devils and made 18 starts. including a start in each of the final 15 games
Averaged 9.7 points per game on 86-of-206 (.417) field goal shooting
Shook off a slow start to average 11.2 points over the final 19 games, after averaging just 3.8 points over the first five contests
Shot .454 (79-of-174) from the field over the season's final 19 games
Recorded 4.8 rebounds per game and ranked third on the team with 65 assists (2.7 average)
Upped his scoring and rebound averages to 10.9 and 5.2, respectively, in ACC play
Scored 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting while grabbing four rebounds in the season-opening win over Coppin State (11/28)
Led the Blue Devils to a win over Boston College (1/6), scoring a game-high 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go with four rebounds
Contributed 15 points off the bench at Pitt (1/19) going 5-of-10 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range
Scored 11 points with three three-pointers and four rebounds in the win over Clemson (1/30)
Went 7-of-9 from the field for 18 points with six boards and three assists at Miami (2/1)
Scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting versus North Carolina (2/6), while adding five rebounds and four assists
Notched his first double-double of the season in the home game against Notre Dame (2/9), going for 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting with 10 boards
Shot 5-of-9 from the floor for 11 points and four rebounds at Wake Forest (2/17)
Dished out a career-high seven assists, brought in five rebounds and scored four points in the win over No. 7 Virginia (2/20)
Went for 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists against Louisville (2/27)
Finished 9-of-19 from the floor for 20 points with eight boards, three dimes and four steals at Georgia Tech (3/2)
Scored nine points, grabbed seven boards and dished out five assists in the ACC Tournament win over Louisville (3/10)
Named to the preseason watch list for the Julius Erving Award, presented to the nation’s best small forward
Selected second-team Preseason All-ACC
Named to Naismith Trophy watch list
Paolo Banchero was a A five-star power forward out of O'Dea High School in Seattle, Wash.
Ranked as the No. 3 overall player in ESPN 100's rankings for the class of 2021
Ranked No. 1 in the state of Washington and No. 1 at his position in the ESPN 100
Named the Washington Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior
Became the sixth Duke commit in the past decade to earn MaxPreps Junior Player of the Year honors (Austin Rivers – 2010; Jabari Parker – 2012; Jayson Tatum – 2015; Zion Williamson – 2017; Vernon Carey Jr. – 2018)
Averaged 22.6 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.6 blocks per game his junior season at O'Dea
Took part in the USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team minicamp in July of 2019
Also played quarterback for the O'Dea football team
Becomes first player from the state of Washington since Quin Snyder (Mercer Island) in 1986-89
Committed to Duke on August 4, 2020
Chose the Blue Devils over Kentucky, North Carolina and Gonzaga, among others
Theo John who is a graduate student and transferred to Duke after playing at Marquette where he suited up for former Duke player, Assistant Coach Steve Wojciechowski who was his Head Coach at Marquette.
As a freshman at Marquette in 2017-2018,
Theo John played in 33 games as a freshman, averaging 3.9 points and 2.3 boards per contest
Ranked second on the team with 26 blocked shots
Collected four points and six rebounds in collegiate debut against Mount St. Mary's
Recorded seven points and five boards in 14 minutes versus Northern Illinois
Went 4-of-5 from the field for nine points and six rebounds in 18 minutes against American
Netted 11 points in win over DePaul
Finished with season-high 14 points, six rebounds and five blocks against Providence
Recorded 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting to go with two blocks in second round of NIT versus Oregon
As a sophomore at Marquette 2018-2019,
Theo John Started 32-of-34 games
Led the Big East and ranked 34th in the nation with 2.1 blocked shots per game
Named the team's Most Improved Player
Posted double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds to go with three blocks in season opener versus UMBC
Scored 10 points and brought in six boards against Louisville
Recorded six points, nine rebounds and seven blocks versus Buffalo
Finished with 10 points and 11 boards against Seton Hall
Scored career-high-tying 16 points and chipped in 10 rebounds versus DePaul
Shot 6-of-7 for 15 points and 11 boards versus Butler
As a junior at Marquette in 2019-20,
Theo John played in all 30 games with 29 starts
Finished third in the Big East with 1.8 blocked shots per game
Averaged 5.1 points on .549 shooting to go with 5.2 rebounds per contest
Posted seven points, eight rebounds and a career-best eight blocks in season opener against Loyola Maryland
Had 12 points and six boards against Central Arkansas
Recorded 12-point, 10-rebound double-double on 6-of-6 shooting versus Creighton
Went 4-of-6 for eight points and 10 boards against Seton Hall
Named to Big East All-Academic Team
As a senior at Marquette in 2020-2021, Theo John Finished Marquette career with 123 games played, averaging 5.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game on .576 shooting
His 191 blocked shots rank second in program history
Started 25-of-26 games as a senior
Averaged a career-high 8.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists
Shot 78-of-135 (.578) from the field, 3-of-4 (.750) from three-point range and 54-of-73 (.740) at the free throw line
Opened season with 13-point, 12-rebound double-double against UAPB
Scored 14 points and brought in four boards at Xavier
Recorded nine points, six rebounds and three blocked shots at St. John's (1/16)
Tied career high with 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks versus St. John's (1/31)
Went 5-of-5 from the floor for 10 points against Creighton
Finished 7-of-8 from the free throw line in a 15-point outing at Butler
Shot 5-of-7 for 11 points and five boards at North Carolina
“according to his biography on goduke.com”
Joey Baker who is a senior!
As a freshman at Duke in 2018-2019,
Joey Baker Was activated late in the season following an injury to Zion Williamson
Played in four games, totaling 18 minutes and scoring three points
Made his Duke debut on the road against Syracuse (2/23)
Scored his first career points by hitting a three pointer against North Dakota State in the NCAA Tournament First Round (3/22)
As a sophomore at Duke in 2019-2020,
Joey Baker Played in 28 games with three starts, averaging 5.0 points and shooting .394 (28-of-71) from three-point range
Made 11 of his 12 free throw attempts for the season
Shot 6-of-7 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range for a career-high 16 points against Winthrop (11/29)
Went for 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in 17 minutes of action at No. 11 Michigan State (12/3)
Netted a career-high 22 points and five three-pointers in 18 minutes against Wofford (12/19)
Made his first career start versus Brown (12/28)
Made 3-of-5 three-pointers against Wake Forest (1/11), finishing with 11 points
Went 3-of-5 from three-point range for nine points against Miami (1/21)
Tied career highs in assists (three) and rebounds (three) in the win at North Carolina (2/8)
Scored eight points on 3-of-4 shooting against Notre Dame (2/15)
As a junior in 2020-2021, Joey Baker Appeared in 23 of the Blue Devils' 24 games with one start
Averaged 2.9 points and 1.2 rebounds for the season
Shot 22-of-71 (.310) from the field, including 16-of-51 (.314) from three-point range
In ACC play, averaged 2.9 points, while shooting .320 from the field and .351 from behind the arc
Pulled down a career-high four rebounds in the season-opening win over Coppin State (11/28)
Went 2-of-5 from three-point range for six points against Clemson (1/30)
Hit 3-of-7 three-pointers in an 11-point effort versus North Carolina (2/6)
Poured in a season-high 12 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting in the win at Wake Forest (2/17)
Shot 2-of-5 from beyond the arc and finished with eight points and two assists in the ACC Tournament win over Boston College (3/9)
Logged a season-high 22 minutes in the BC victory
“according Joey Baker’s biography on goduke.com”