Duke’s newest freshman is already drawing big praise from someone who knows the program well.
Evan Bradds, now Belmont’s head coach after previously working as a Duke assistant, got a close look at Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje during an exhibition game and came away impressed. Bradds didn’t hold back when discussing what he saw from the 17-year-old.
"I wasn't playing like him when I was 17; that's for sure," Evan Bradds, now the HC at Belmont after serving as an assistant at Duke, said, per Matt Giles. "You watch some of the FIBA stuff I've seen him play in, you watch the highlights, and you're really, really impressed.
"And then to see him up close: the size, the skill, the physicality, and the shooting touch, you know, it was unbelievable coming off his hands. So, for him to only be 17 doing a lot of that stuff with his size, obviously special player for a reason, and he showed why tonight in a lot of ways."
That kind of reaction only adds to the buzz around a Duke team that enters the season with sky-high expectations. The Blue Devils are expected to be one of the top teams in the country, with the regular season set to begin in about a month and meaningful games arriving in early November.
Anything can happen in college basketball, but if Duke finishes outside the top two teams in America - with Florida mentioned as the main comparison - that would count as a letdown. And for a group this talented on both ends of the floor, anything short of a national championship will be treated as disappointment.
The big question now is how Jon Scheyer sorts out the rotation, especially with so many young players needing minutes. Boumtje Boumtje looks like one of the freshmen who simply has to be on the floor.
Even with Duke’s veteran-heavy talent, the freshman’s combination of size and skill makes him hard to ignore. There’s still uncertainty about exactly how often Scheyer will lean on him, but the talent is clearly there, and that’s what makes Boumtje Boumtje such a fascinating piece of this roster.
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