Duke Has to Figure Out Star Freshman's Role With Jon Scheyer

Duke brought in one of the most impressive freshman classes in the country, including Deron Rippey Jr. Rippey, a New Jersey native who attended Blair Academy, was a consensus top-15 player in America, according to most services. 

Many also ranked him as the No. 1 point guard in the country and the consensus No. 1 player in New Jersey. As he gets prepared to play at Duke, there's a reason to believe that he could be one of the best players in the country next year by a wide margin.

However, with a veteran-led team at Duke, at least a bit more than in years past, it's tough to get a feel for how much he's actually going to play. 

At the same time, Rippey is so good that we have to assume that he's going to earn himself a ton of minutes, which is why Duke has to answer some questions on how it wants to give minutes to its guard room.

“Playing the lead guard spot at the college level isn't easy, and Rippey will be fighting for minutes against three other proven guards. Foster is likely to start at point guard, and Boozer is a natural lead guard. Blackwell will get minutes on-ball, too. He mentioned after committing to Duke that part of the allure was being on-ball more.

“So Rippey could see time as an off-ball guard when he's on the court. But Scheyer will want the ball in his hands a lot, too. He's dynamic off the bounce, and he might immediately be the best guard on the roster at getting to the rim and putting pressure on the interior of the defense. That could lead to some kick-out opportunities for open threes for guys like Blackwell, Foster, Dame Sarr, and freshman big Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje to take advantage of,” John Mitchell wrote.

I'm really curious to see what role Rippey will play this year, as I want to see him get a good amount of minutes. 

I have a real feeling that he can be a legitimate scoring option for Duke, and he's a ridiculous athlete, so his ability to impact the basketball is going to be felt. He can also create his own shot and for others, so there's absolutely no reason why he shouldn't at least get a chance to prove that throughout parts of the year.