He should be one of Duke's top players.
Among Duke's many impressive offseason moves, the addition of John Blackwell was at the top of the list. Blackwell, a star from Wisconsin, has the opportunity to come to Duke and make a major impact on both ends of the floor for the Blue Devils.
It'll be interesting to see how he plays with all the other talent around him, as this will be very different from what he's played in throughout his career.
Despite Wisconsin being a decent team, early signs suggest he'll be a guy who has a big impact on both ends of the floor. Speaking to reporters recently, head coach Jon Scheyer also said he has big hopes for him. Scheyer said he's a great scorer and will help them in big games.
"As far as John, I just think it's the fact we're replacing a lot of scoring and firepower with a proven scorer who's tough and competitve and has been in big games," Scheyer noted last week about Blackwell, per Yahoo. "And that's going to really help us throughout the whole year."
As for those big games, winning in March Madness is always the biggest priority for a program like Duke.
However, in the ACC and with this ridiculous out-of-conference schedule the Blue Devils have put together, Blackwell understands he needs to be at his best every night. Speaking about the out-of-conference schedule, the young man seems very excited to take on programs like UConn and Florida before conference play starts.
"As a player, these are games you get excited for," Blackwell said, per Matt Giles. "This is the biggest of the biggest stage. I think our coaches are going to do a great job of preparing us for these games, like they have before."
Duke undoubtedly has the toughest out-of-conference schedule in America, at least on paper, so it'll be interesting to see how it responds.
If guys like Blackwell are as good as advertised, it should find itself in a very good spot.
