Slender and shy, Daniel Ewing has established himself as the quiet man for Duke. He blends into the background amongst the monsters he plays with, and, occasionally, his game does too.
Ewing was a McDonald's All-America while teaming with last season's college national player of the year T.J. Ford in high school, and his pure shooting ability and defensive prowess have never been questioned. But even though he is one of the most talented players in the ACC, he has never been a full-time starter.
Well, a roar is rising.
Ewing's most recent play was his second commanding postseason performance, a March when the quiet man went mad with scoring and the type of dominance that has not been able to shine through all that often for such a loaded Blue Devils team.
To close out his sophomore campaign, Ewing exploded for 32, 19 and 11 points in leading Duke to the ACC Tournament championship and himself to MVP honors. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski left him in the starting lineup from there on out, and Ewing's all-around play stayed loud as his minutes shot up.
As for this year, "I'm just trying to hopefully continue where I left off in the ACC Tournament and just build on that going into the season," he said.
"Just trying" is apropos for the quiet man and probably good enough for a team that would be just fine if he were to punch in the 12 points per game he did last season. But all indications are that Ewing will be pushed into the starting lineup and be given room to shine in his junior year.
The backcourt trio of Ewing, Chris Duhon and J.J. Redick could be the most lethal in the country, and Ewing--when he decides to shine--has the most balanced repertoire of the three.
His driving ability was already impressive for that slender body of his, and he worked this summer on adding weight and improving his ball handling to dart around with even more fervor than he has in the past. Add that to his squeaky clean shooting stroke and man-to-man defense that Duke point guard recruit Shaun Livingston said would not let him do anything he wanted to on the court, and you have got a shooting star.
And for such a shy character, Ewing is trying to bulk up his presence this year, on and off the court.
"I'm a junior now," he said, "and we've got a lot of young guys. I've been through some things. I've played with some of the good players--Jason [Williams], Carlos [Boozer] and Mike Dunleavy. And Chris [Duhon], he's been a leader on this team for a while now. So just stepping up, and Coach [Krzyzewski] is expecting me to be that type of player, have that type of leadership. So I'm just trying to step up and do what I love."
If that means stepping up like Ewing did at the end of last season--starting, playing 30 minutes a game and getting louder with each one--then a lot of people are going to start loving what he does.
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