If AJ Griffin Has To Be Sidelined To Begin Freshman Season Because Of Knee Injury Duke, Mike Krzyzewski Would Be Depending On Wendell Moore To Begin The 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”
If AJ Griffin has to be sidelined to begin freshman season because of knee injury Duke, Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski who is coaching his last season in 2021-2022 before Jon Scheyer who is currently the Associate Head Coach takes over as Head Coach in April 2023 would be depending on Wendell Moore more in the early going if AJ Griffin misses games.
“according to an article by Stephen Wiseman in the newsobserver”
As a freshman at Duke in 2019 -20,
Wendell Moore was on the 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 was on the 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
“according to Wendell Moore’s biography on goduke.com”
Duke has one exhibition game before they begin the regular season!
Their one exhibition game is on November 30, 2021 when they host Georgia State before they tip-off the regular season verses Kentucky on November 9, 2021 in the State Farm Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden.
Tip off for Duke’s lone exhibition is set for 1:30pm from Cameron Indoor Stadium!
The game is going to be televised on ACC Network Extra!
Tip off time for Duke’s regular season opening game verses Kentucky on November 9, 2021 in the State Farm Champions Classic has yet to have been announced. Though, what channel the game is on has. The game is going to be televised on ESPN!