Duke Blue Devils news: Tatum and Boston go up 2-0, basketball signee wins gold

Sunday night, Duke alum Jayson Tatum helped his Boston Celtics take a 2-0 NBA Finals lead over the Dallas Mavericks and former Blue Devils Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II via a 105-98 win. However, none of the three former Duke stars had standout performances.

Tatum led the trio in scoring with 18 points. However, that came on a poor shooting night that saw him go just 6-22 from the floor overall and 1-7 from 3-point range. Tatum was a factor on the glass with nine boards and he also got others involved by handing out 12 assists as he narrowly missed out on a triple-double.

Irving posted 16 points in 41 minutes of action. However, he too was rather inefficient making just 7 of 18 shots.

As for Lively, he was a relative non-factor. He scored only two points and pulled down seven rebounds in 19 minutes of action off the bench.

The series now shifts to Dallas where Irving and his teammates will be in desperation mode. Game three will be played Wednesday night.

Over the weekend, 2024 Duke signee Patrick Ngongba II helped the Team USA Under-18 team capture the gold medal at the FIBA Americacup. As expected, it was a clean sweep for the Americans.

In six games in the event, Ngongba averaged 4.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. His best outing was a 12-point, 6-rebound effort in a blowout victory over Belize.

Ngongba is a five-star prospect according to the 247Sports composite rankings. The 6-foot-11 center is ranked the No. 25 player in his class.

Duke freshman Shavit Kimchi was voted ACC Freshman of the Year thanks to a strong 2023-24 season.  A native of Sdey Hemed, Israel, Kimchi received the honor which is voted on by conference head coaches. She is just the 12th Blue Devil to be tabbed ACC Freshman of the Year. 

“Congrats to Shavit for being named the ACC Freshman of the Year,” said Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth.  “She worked tremendously hard this year and it is great that coaches in our conference have recognized that.  The ACC has a long-standing tradition of producing great freshmen tennis players and having her name on this list next to some of the all-time greats is something she should be proud of.

Cooper Williams, the No. 1 rated freshman in the nation for men’s tennis is now a Blue Devil. This past season, he competed for Harvard University where he earned All-America honors and concluded the year ranked No. 14 in singles action and No. 21 in doubles play

“I am thrilled that Cooper has chosen to continue his collegiate career at Duke,” Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. “His competitiveness and pursuit of excellence as a student-athlete is a perfect fit for Duke and I believe he will feel right at home within our tennis program and campus. Cooper arrives at Duke already an accomplished student-athlete and my coaching staff and I are really looking forward to spearheading his ongoing development and progress throughout the next three years.