Sebastian Wilkins has made himself hard to ignore this preseason, and Duke coach Jon Scheyer has responded by keeping him near the front of the line off the bench.
Through Duke’s 3-0 preseason run, the second-year forward has repeatedly earned meaningful minutes, and that trend continued Sunday in the Blue Devils’ 90-84 road exhibition win over Kansas. Wilkins played 21 minutes, the most of any Duke reserve in the game, and he made them count with seven points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal.
The Boston native was efficient again, finishing 3-for-3 from the field and 1-for-2 at the foul line while committing no turnovers. His work also showed up on the defensive end, where his versatility continued to give Duke useful minutes on both sides of the floor.
Even with a quieter scoring night than his earlier preseason outings, Wilkins has still been one of Duke’s most productive bench pieces. He totaled 19 points, 11 rebounds and three steals across 42 combined minutes in the Blue Devils’ 102-62 home exhibition win over Belmont on Oct. 8 and their 103-64 home exhibition win over Tennessee on Oct. 20.
"He's a reliable guy," Scheyer said about Wilkins in his press conference after Duke sent the Volunteers home with a blowout exhibition loss in tow. "I think you're looking for consistency.
He's going to play a role for us, knowing he's not going to try to do too much. [He can] make open threes.
He's going to crash the boards. He can guard multiple positions.
He's tough.
"I think that says it all right there. And I'm proud of him. I think it speaks to the different guys in our program that can be successful."
Wilkins has logged the highest minutes average of any Duke reserve during the three preseason games at 21.0 per game, narrowly topping freshman guard Deron Rippey’s 18.7.
"It's grown a lot," Wilkins explained to Duke Blue Devils On SI when asked about his newfound level of confidence following the matchup against Tennessee. "My teammates help me with my confidence.
They boost my energy. So, it's just been growing."
He also made clear that his defensive focus is a big part of why he keeps earning Scheyer’s trust.
"It's a big thing to take care of defense," Wilkins said. "That's what Coach Scheyer preaches on. So, I know if I take care of that, I'll be able to play."
Now Wilkins and the No. 2-ranked Blue Devils, who appear to have 10 or more players worthy of minutes in any given game, are set to open the regular season at home against unranked Army at 6:30 p.m. ET Monday on ESPNU.
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