With the regular season in the books and tournament season right around the corner, The Blue Zone will review the seasons of all the Blue Devils, beginning with the freshmen Tuesday and ending with the seniors Friday.
Amile Jefferson
- Year: Freshman
- Height: 6-foot-8
- This year's stat line: 4.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 0.4 SPG, 0.5 BPG
- The Blue Zone's projected stat line: 6.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG
Season breakdown: Jefferson's year was really a tale of two seasons—one with and one without Ryan Kelly. Prior to Kelly's foot injury, Jefferson was primarily relegated to the bench, competing with junior Josh Hairston for the minutes needed to give Kelly or Mason Plumlee a breather. Jefferson only tallied points in seven of the 14 games in which he played before Kelly went down Jan. 8 against Clemson. After that, though, Jefferson's minutes increased tremendously, as he and Hairston continued to battle to take over Kelly's minutes in his absence.
He even earned seven starts during the 13 games the Blue Devils played without Kelly, and made the most of those minutes. He was one of Duke's bright spots at Miami Jan 23., scoring a career high 13 points. Jefferson followed that up with 11 points Jan. 26 vs. Maryland. Since Kelly's triumphant return, Jefferson again has seen his role significantly reduced. He received a did-not-play coaches' decision against Miami, and logged just a combined seven minutes in Duke's last two regular season contests.
Role for the rest of the season: Energy, energy, energy. Even when Jefferson only enters the game for brief stints of action, the pride and intensity he brings to the Blue Devils is rivaled only by the swagger of Quinn Cook. Jefferson's defense has been generally solid, and he provided some solidity to a rebounding-challenged Duke team, especially when Kelly was out due to to injury. While 3.1 boards per game might not sound like a lot, it's very good considering he averaged just 13.3 minutes per contest in 2012-13. Expect to see Jefferson inserted into postseason games if Duke needs a kick-start defensively, but not for extensive minutes, given the extraordinary fluidity the offense has had since Kelly's return.
Results relative to expectations: Jefferson's scoring was below our expectations, but his opportunities were constrained by the logjam that is Duke's forward position. The Blue Devils also haven't needed him to score, with many of his opportunities coming off offensive rebounds.
Coming into the season, there were questions about Jefferson's build and strength, which remains a work in progress. As C.J. Leslie demonstrated in Duke's first match-up with NC State, Jefferson has room to improve before he can capably defend the elite forwards in the ACC. Thanks to the void left by Kelly for 13 games, Jefferson has certainly made big strides this season, and figures to compete for more serious minutes next season, when Duke loses both Kelly and Mason Plumlee to graduation.
In case you missed it, we already reviewed: Rasheed Sulaimon
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.