ACC announces two-time Freshman of the Week winner

Duke guard Trevor Keels won his second ACC Freshman of the Week award, joining teammates Paolo Banchero and AJ Griffin as multiple-time winners. The former four-star recruit helped lead the Blue Devils to a 2-1 record which included a career-high performance.

In addition to the three Duke freshmen who have claimed multiple ACC Freshman of the Week awards, Notre Dame guard Blake Wesley and NC State guard Terquavion Smith also won multiple honors so far. The only players to win just once is Florida State forward Matthew Cleveland, who won the first award after the turn of the calendar.

Over the three-game stretch considered for this addition to the ACC Freshman of the Week, Trevor Keels averaged 16.7 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 45.5 percent from the 3-point line. He also scored a career-high 25 points with a career-high 11 rebounds in his first double-double on the road against Clemson.

Duke has now won at least a share of the Freshman award in the past five weeks, with all three of its dynamic young trio winning at least once over that span.

Mike Krzyzewski on Duke’s experience

Over each of the past two weekends, Duke has had two games with just one day off in between. Last weekend, Duke beat UNC on Saturday but lost to Virginia two days later on that Monday. This weekend, Duke beat Clemson on Thursday before picking up a win at Boston College on Saturday.

In the NCAA Tournament, the schedule is very similar to what Duke has seen over recent weeks. Teams begin with one game, and have one day off until the next. Then, they get a break before doing the same thing a few days later. Krzyzewski knows a thing or two about what it takes to make a run in the NCAA Tournament, and he knows that this type of schedule could help Duke down the road.

Following Duke’s loss to Virginia on Monday, Krzyzewski addressed the schedule and what it takes in that type of setting in the NCAA Tournament.

“This is exactly what – if you’re fortunate and you earn the right to play in the NCAA Tournament, you have to, if you win a big game on a Thursday or Friday, you got a quick turnaround and you got to win another one,” Krzyzewski said of Duke’s recent schedule. “And in order to do it, you gotta win six. But a lot of people win one. You gotta win two, and then you got a break. Then even more people win three, but not a lot of people win four. And I mean I’ve done it my whole life. It’s a bridge you have to cross, and you have to learn how to cross it.”