High school superstar to sixth man. Most freshmen might have a problem with this situation, but not Daniel Ewing.
The Missouri City, Texas, native averages 6.5 points per game in about 18 minutes this season, a far cry from the 19 points per game he tallied in his senior year at Willowridge High School. Ewing, however, said he sees playing behind possibly the best backcourt in the nation as a positive situation.
"I have the chance to sit back and learn some things and watch the way they do things," Ewing said. "I think I've learned more, as far as me coming off the bench and watching those guys, then I would if I was out there starting this year."
Ewing, one of the few bright spots on a Duke bench that has been continually criticized as lacking depth, averages almost as many points as the rest of the bench combined, and has flourished and become an integral part of the team.
"I think that Dan is stepping into his role very well," Jason Williams said. "For him to just step in--a lot of teams play off him, but he can really knock down the shot, and his ability to play defense is really good, too, when he brings that to the table.
"Everybody on our team is very valuable, and to say Daniel wasn't would just be lying. Dan is one of the most valuable people on our team, and we need everybody to win this thing."
When Ewing started at Duke this fall, he had already impressed his coaches and teammates with his tremendous court awareness and passing ability. He displayed maturity beyond his 18 years, and was drawing comparisons to a current Blue Devil just one year his senior, Chris Duhon.
"I think he's better than where I was last year," Duhon said. "He's a great defender, he knows the game well and he's starting to get more aggressive on the offensive end. That's only going to help us in the long run."
Ewing has received help from many his teammates and coaches as he has adjusted to college basketball, but the former McDonald's All-American credits Duhon as the Blue Devil who has helped him the most.
"I would say that pretty much everyone played a part in helping me adjust," Ewing said. "But I would say that someone that stuck out the most would be Chris because he was in the same position last year [being the only freshman scholarship player]. He just told me some of the things that happened to him last year to help me prepare for this season."
As the year has progressed, Ewing has gradually started to play a larger role in the Blue Devils' game plan on both ends of the floor. He has shed his initial tentativeness, and has become more aggressive in taking the ball to the basket, as well as taking big shots when he has them.
As Duke embarks on its journey through the ACC championships and the NCAA tournament, Ewing will be an important part of the Blue Devils success, but believes that the rest of the bench has the ability to help out as well.
"I think we have a very deep bench if we had to go that far, even though Nick [Horvath] and Casey [Sanders] don't play that many minutes when they get in the game," he said. "They are capable of doing good things, the things that Carlos [Boozer] and Mike [Dunleavy] might do. So, I think we can go pretty deep in our bench if we have to."
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