Duke to debut all-freshman starting five for first time in school history

Blue Devils basketball is about to accomplish a historic first in a game against Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday afternoon. Duke will debut an all-freshman starting five for the first time in program history.

The Blue Devils announced the starting five on Twitter before the game.

Earning the start are point guard Tyrese Proctor, forwards Mark Mitchell and Dariq Whitehead and centers Kyle Filipowski and Dereck Lively II.

Filipowski is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder so far this season, averaging 14.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per contest, while also chipping in 1.4 steals, 1.2 assists and 0.8 blocks per contest.

Mitchell is averaging 10.2 points per game, Proctor 7.5, Whitehead 5.6 and Lively 4.0.

Starting guard Jeremy Roach was ruled out for the contest against Maryland Eastern Shore with a toe injury, which the Blue Devils revealed on Twitter before the game. Roach had averaged 13.1 points, 3.5 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game in the first 11 games this season.

Duke all-freshman starting five will close out non-conference play

Roach hadn’t missed a game yet this year and was averaging 13.1 points a game heading into today’s matchup.

While many teams in college basketball are playing bigger competition on Saturday, Duke is wrapping up its final nonconference games before ACC play truly heats up. Duke enters this game at 9-2 overall, while facing a Maryland Eastern Shore team that sits at 3-6 overall.

That is not to say that the Blue Devils have not tested themselves, though. Duke has faced three ranked teams this season and is fresh off of a 12-point win over Iowa in Madison Square Garden. There were questions as to how the Scheyer era would start off but so far, things have looked good for the Blue Devils under their new coach.

Following this game, Duke will have 10 days off before hitting the road in league play to face Wake Forest in what will likely be a hostile road environment.