When No. 4 Duke meets No. 2 Wisconsin Wednesday night in the most-anticipated matchup of the young college basketball season, there will be no shortage of subplots.
ACC vs. Big Ten. Youth against experience. Bo Ryan opposite Mike Krzyzewski.
But the battle that has commanded the spotlight since the ACC/Big Ten Challenge pairings were announced in April is the one that will take place down low. Blue Devil center Jahlil Okafor—the top-ranked recruit in this year’s freshman class—will go up against the Badgers’ Frank Kaminsky, widely considered the best upperclassman center in the country.
“He’s a great player, one of the best players in college basketball,” Okafor said. “He’s a had a great career. He’s a proven big man; [I’m] just a freshman, only played seven games of college basketball.”
Kaminsky, a 7-foot senior, burst onto the college basketball landscape last spring during the Badgers’ run to the Final Four. The center averaged 16.4 points per game in postseason play and turned in a dominant 28-point, 11-rebound effort in the Elite Eight to power Wisconsin past Arizona. The Wildcats boasted one of the nation’s top frontcourts, but Kaminksy used a flurry of step-throughs and post moves to carve up the Arizona interior, showcasing footwork that rivals the polished post game of Okafor.
Despite his talent playing with his back to the basket, Kaminsky—Wisconsin’s leading scorer and rebounder at 16.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game—can also step outside and knock down the outside jumper. The center actually leads the Badgers in 3-pointers made this season, knocking down 11 of his 27 attempts.
Fans aren’t the only ones excited to see how the battle down low plays out.
“It’s fun, but you can’t get too into watching it because you’re actually on the floor and you actually have an impact on the game,” captain Quinn Cook said. “[Okafor] wants to [play better] than every big he plays. He takes the matchups personal[ly].”
Kaminsky’s ability to force Okafor to guard him outside of the paint could be a key to Wednesday’s matchup, as drawing the Blue Devil big man away from the rim could help open up the key for other Badgers to penetrate. Okafor said he feels comfortable stepping outside to defend Kaminsky’s unique skill set.
“He’s a different kind of post man,” Okafor said. “It’s definitely going to be a hard test for me and I’m looking forward to it.”
On the other end of the floor, few opposing teams have been able to slow down Okafor’s offensive game, but Kaminsky will provide the Chicago native with his toughest matchup to date. Okafor averages 17.7 points and 6.9 rebounds on a nightly basis and shoots better than 60 percent from the floor, a big reason why Duke ranks fourth in the nation in scoring.
Although he has about 30 pounds on Wisconsin’s big man, Okafor will have to go up strong to finish inside against Kaminsky’s long arms. The Badger center got in early foul trouble in Wisconsin’s most recent game against Oklahoma, and a steady diet of feeding Okafor could draw more whistles and help Duke keep Kaminsky off the floor.
College basketball’s premier centers will go at each other Wednesday night on the hardwood floor of the Kohl Center, but the talented posts might also be worthy adversaries on the dance floor as well.
Kaminsky, known as a fun-loving big man, was featured in a video dancing to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” that quickly made the rounds on the Internet last month. Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan looped Okafor into the dancing conversation at his weekly press conference Monday when asked what stands out in the freshman’s game.
“Size and maneuverability,” Ryan said. “I haven’t seen him dance, but I bet he can dance. He’s got good feet. That baseline move he has, he’s pretty good that way.”
Told of Ryan’s comments Monday, the 6-foot-11 center concurred with the scouting report.
“I’m a solid dancer,” Okafor said.
With some of the silkiest footwork in the sport on display Wednesday night, Okafor and Kaminsky will tango in the post, each looking to lead their teams to a resume-building win.
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