Jared McCain #20 of the Philadelphia 76ers (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
Jared McCain of the Philadelphia 76ers shows no hesitation in picking his alma mater, the Duke Blue Devils, to win the national championship.
McCain starred during his lone season in college in Durham, North Carolina, averaging 14.3 points per game while helping lead the Blue Devils to an Elite Eight appearance in the tournament last season.
However, this year’s Blue Devils have much higher expectations, led by future No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg. In fact, they’re many people’s pick to win it all after leading the NCAA in average margin of victory (21.1 points per game).
McCain attended the team’s 100–93 victory over the Arizona Wildcats on Thursday night, which means the Blue Devils will be in the Elite Eight again, with their sights set on something greater.
Depth, Defense and Confidence Fueling Duke
“Of course they’re going to win it all,” says McCain in a one-on-one interview with RG. “I think defensively they look great. It was almost a good thing to have Cooper out for the last few games during the ACC tournament just to get everybody’s role right and their confidence built up.
“Tyrese [Proctor] has been playing extremely well,” McCain continues.
“Caleb [Foster] has been coming off the bench doing extremely well. Their depth is what’s winning them games and everybody’s confidence is high.”
Flagg was out for essentially the entire ACC tournament after suffering a sprained ankle in the conference tournament opener. Despite their star player’s absence, the Blue Devils were able to win the ACC Championship.
Although McCain didn’t play with Flagg, he does know him from when the 6-foot-9 forward visited the campus during McCain’s lone season at Duke. He says he scrimmaged against Flagg and calls him a “really good kid” and that he’s happy to see him “thrive” at this level.
Flagg had a huge game in the win over the Wildcats, becoming just the second NCAA player to post at least 30 points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocks in a tournament game.
“He does it all,” says McCain. “The main thing with him—I’ve always said it—he plays games really hard and has a lot of top talent. I feel like that’s a skill nowadays because he has enough talent to kind of lay back and not really do too much. But defensively, offensively, he’s everywhere on the court and I think that’s a huge skill set to be added to the NBA game.”
Flagg Drawing Comparisons to Garnett
Many observers have difficulty making player comparisons for Flagg because he’s so dynamic in every facet of the game. However, McCain comes up with a good one when he mentions Hall of Fame basketball great Kevin Garnett as the player who the Blue Devils star most reminds him of.
Garnett was one of the most versatile big men of all time and did it all in his prime. During his MVP season in 2003–04, Garnett averaged 24.2 points, 13.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.2 blocks per game. Flagg is also filling up the stat sheet with his averages of 19.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.
Prior to suffering a meniscus tear, McCain had emerged as a Rookie of the Year candidate. McCain won Rookie of the Month honors in November after averaging a rookie-leading 16.0 points per game during the month. He posted seven games of at least 20-plus points and two games of 30-plus points.
However, the Sixers have dealt with a number of injuries. Outside of McCain, Paul George and Joel Embiid have been shut down for the season. Philadelphia has one of the worst records in the league at 23–50, and they have a chance at the No. 1 pick.
The Sixers have 9.0% odds of getting the top pick in the draft, the sixth-best odds of any NBA team. That means they could land Flagg if they get the top overall pick, giving McCain a chance to team up with his fellow Blue Devils alum.
“It’d be amazing,” says McCain. “It’d be super cool to have him. He makes every team that he’s on better, so it’d be really cool to just have him on the team. It’s always nice to have someone from Duke by my side. I got a lot of Kentucky people with me, you know what I’m saying? I need some more Duke guys.”
DJ Siddiqi
