Duke men's basketball's Kyle Filipowski named to AP All-American Second Team

A preseason All-American in the fall, an actual All-American in the spring.

On Tuesday afternoon, sophomore center Kyle Filipowski was named to the AP’s All-American Second Team, joining Marquette’s Tyler Kolek, Alabama’s Mark Sears, Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson and Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II. The announcement comes after Filipowski earned a spot on the All-ACC First Team, leading the Blue Devils in both scoring and rebounding en route to a second-place finish in the conference’s regular season and a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Filipowski built on his ACC Rookie of the Year placement from his freshman season into his sophomore campaign, upping his scoring average from 15.1 to 17.1, improving his 3-point percentage from 28.2% to 35% and holding a similar rebounding rate across both years. He also assumed a more traditional big-man role down low this season, starting every game for the Blue Devils as their true center after the departure of Dereck Lively II to the NBA.

Although Duke has slid somewhat in its last two games leading into Friday’s NCAA tournament opener, Filipowski has impressed mightily, grabbing 51 combined points and 21 boards, leading his team in both. Across the season, Filipowski has superseded 20 points on 12 occasions, including monstrous performances against the likes of Arizona, North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia and Pittsburgh.

As the Blue Devils head into the postseason, they will be relying on Filipowski to anchor the scoring effort in a stacked South Region featuring potential matchups with Houston and First Team All-American Jamal Shead, Kentucky and its pair of rookie superstars in Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham, and Marquette, led by fellow second-team honoree Kolek.

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