Dereck Lively II is already among Duke basketball's all-time best swatters.
Big men typically take longer to adjust to the college game, and early injury setbacks certainly don't help. But now that Duke basketball's Dereck Lively II has found his groove, he's setting program records. And due to his perseverance, positivity, and prowess, the No. 5 seed Blue Devils have become bonafide contenders in March.
"It's totally changed our team," first-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer said about the long-limbed 7-footer's presence and emergence following Thursday night's comfortable 74-51 win over No. 12 seed Oral Roberts in Orlando, giving Scheyer the 1-0 overall March Madness record that his predecessor, Mike Krzyzewski, never held.
"Really, the second half of the season, Dereck has been on an absolute tear. His rebounding, his blocking shots, he's been scoring in double digits, too, and he's the ultimate team player."
Lively, who arrived in Durham with giant-sized expectations at No. 1 overall on the 247Sports 2022 Composite, sustained a calf injury in early October, costing him critical preseason practice time and the opener. He then struggled to produce more than a few rebounds, blocks, and points per game across the first half of the season.
Fast forward to the present, and the Dereck Lively II story at Duke looks so much brighter, with the possibility of a storybook ending.
On Thursday night, the 19-year-old Philadelphia native, a projected one-and-done, swatted away six of the Golden Eagles' shots and no doubt discouraged their guards from entering the paint on countless occasions.
On that note, Oral Roberts star guard Max Abmas finished with only 12 points, 10 below his season average, shooting 4-for-15 from the field while committing a game-high five turnovers.
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