Jeff Borzello
Multiple Authors
Duke beginning center Patrick Ngongba II is returning to the Blue Devils next season, he announced Monday.
Ngongba was projected as a borderline first-round choose in June’s NBA draft however will choose to go again to school as an alternative.
A 6-foot-11 sophomore, Ngongba earned honorable point out All-ACC honors final season after averaging 10.1 factors, 5.8 rebounds and a pair of.0 assists. He was some of the improved gamers within the convention and was an anchor for one of many nation’s elite defensive items.
Ngongba ranked within the high 15 within the league in offensive score, offensive rebound and defensive rebound price, block proportion and fouls drawn per 40 minutes, in keeping with KenPom.
He was at his finest down the stretch of the common season, scoring in double figures in 5 straight video games earlier than struggling a foot damage that stored him out of the ACC event and the primary spherical of the NCAA event. He wasn’t totally wholesome upon returning, coming off the bench in every of Duke’s closing three event video games.
With Ngongba again, Jon Scheyer is now anticipated to return no less than three key items from a crew that earned the general No. 1 seed within the NCAA event. Freshman guard Cayden Boozer introduced his return final week, whereas Caleb Foster additionally seems trending towards a return. There’s optimism that freshman Dame Sarr will even come again to Durham as an alternative of coming into the NBA draft.
Duke welcomes the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class, a bunch headlined by three top-25 recruits: Cameron Williams, Deron Rippey Jr. and Bryson Howard. On Sunday, the Blue Devils landed a dedication from Belmont switch Drew Scharnowski, who averaged 10.7 factors final season.
