Greenwell back in shooting guard role, ready to thrive

Now that the Blue Devils have plenty of talent at the point guard position, Rebecca Greenwell will have a chance to shine in new ways.

Last year’s team had one of the deepest frontcourts in the country, but lacked the same depth in the backcourt. Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie brought in the No. 1 overall recruiting class, though the three remaining players in that group all stand 6-foot-3 or taller. This left much of the ball-handling responsibilities last year in the hands of Greenwell—who is really more of a shooting guard by trade.

This year’s team also boasts the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation, but with a completely different look. In contrast with last year’s forward-centric class, this year’s influx of freshmen revolves around the guard position. With five new guards in Durham, the point guard responsibilities that Greenwell had last season are likely to shrink significantly during her redshirt sophomore campaign, but last year’s experience will make her an even bigger threat.

“We were definitely put out of our comfort zones…to play positions that we’re not used to,” Greenwell said. “[I learned the importance of] being able to embrace our role and what we’re being called to do.”

The fact that Greenwell spent much of the season playing out of position did not stop her from turning into one of the Blue Devils’ biggest threats. The Owensboro, Ky., native quickly asserted herself as a viable scoring option, notching double-figures 28 times. Greenwell became a perpetual part of the Duke rotation, falling just one minute shy of the school record for minutes played in a season.

Greenwell’s game has always been driven by her skills from beyond the arc. Before arriving at Duke, she once notched 17 3-pointers in a single game—a national record at the high school level. The 6-foot-1 sharp-shooter continued to display her abilities during her first season with the Blue Devils, ranking fourth nationally among freshmen in 3-pointers made and setting the Duke freshman record in the same category.

Although Greenwell’s long-range abilities served as a valuable tool within last year’s offense, downtown talent is more easily found on this year’s roster. She attempted more than three times as many shots from behind the arc as any other teammate last season, but with the addition of freshmen Haley Gorecki, Kyra Lambert and Angela Salvadores, that will likely change this season. Now that her primary talent is no longer a scarce resource for the Blue Devils, Greenwell said she wants to expand her scoring repertoire.

“Throughout the summer I’ve been working on my mid-range game,” Greenwell said. “[I’m] not just trying to be a 3-point shooter and [be] stuck out there on the wing…. I probably won’t be a point guard as much but I’ll definitely still bring up the ball every now and then and still try and be a versatile player, but it’ll be nice having other weapons around the wings to play off of.”

A reprise of Greenwell’s heavy participation at the point guard position is unlikely in the coming years, but her time as floor general did not go to waste. Although she averaged a team-high 3.1 turnovers per game, she learned the importance of being versatile and will serve as a sure-handed veteran for Salvadores and the other freshmen this season.

Despite the ball-handling duties, Greenwell was not afraid to call her own number. In last year’s first round of the NCAA tournament, she hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 14.9 seconds left to help Duke escape an upset bid from 14th-seeded Albany. For the season, she shot a team-best 35.6 percent from downtown.

“Becca will definitely not play as much point as she did last year,” McCallie said. “When you think back on what [Greenwell and Azurá Stevens] did as freshmen, I still can’t even believe it, really, when you think about the schedule that we had and what transpired with last year.”

There are plenty of ways in which Greenwell can be utilized in the Blue Devils’ new, faster-paced offense now that McCallie has so many additional options in the backcourt. The redshirt sophomore will have more liberty to move about the floor, letting Salvadores and the point guards free her up for open looks rather than having to create them herself.

Regardless of what Greenwell’s new role will be, McCallie said that the wealth of diverse talent on this year’s team puts Duke in an advantageous position as it looks forward to the season opener against Pennsylvania.

“To build a championship team and a special team, you better have options,” McCallie said. “You better have different people who can step up.”

So far, Greenwell has proven that she can step into whatever role is required of her.