What a difference a year makes.
14 months ago, an official visit to campus by prized recruit Harrison Barnes overshadowed the commitment of another, Kyrie Irving. Despite Irving’s status as the No. 6-rated high schooler in the country, his decision was looked at only in the context of Barnes’s pending choice.
The pain slowly subsided as North Carolina quickly started losing its way into the cellar of the ACC, and Crazies got to see the first win over the Tar Heels in Cameron in three years. But all the pain resurfaced when Barnes became the first freshman ever to be a preseason All-American.
A month later, I think it’s safe to say the Crazies are over it.
Granted, the season is only eight games deep. But, that still hasn’t stopped Duke fans—and national media outlets—from asking an intriguing question: is Kyrie the greatest freshman Coach K has ever coached?
From an old-school statistical standpoint, it isn’t even all that close. Here is a comparison of Irving with two of the all-time greatest Blue Devil guards in their freshman seasons:
Irving (average per game): 17.4 points, 5.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 2.8 turnovers, 53 percent shooting, 45 percent on three-pointers.
Jason Williams (1999-2000): 14.5 points, 6.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 2.4 steals, 4.1 turnovers, 41.9 percent shooting, 35.4 percent on three-pointers.
Bobby Hurley (1989-90): 8.8 points, 7.6 assists, 1.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 4.4 turnovers, 35.1 percent shooting, 35.7 percent on three-pointers.
Two conclusions can be made from these numbers: Irving is by far the best of the three at taking care of the ball, and he is a much more accurate shooter than either Williams or Hurley.
Obviously, Irving’s numbers are drawn from a much smaller sample size. But, based on the improvement shown by Hurley and Williams over the course of their freshman years in Durham, Irving will just continue to widen the gap as the season continues.
Admittedly, my advanced statistical knowledge is limited to baseball, and I think watching a basketball player is the only way to truly recognize his impact—see Battier, Shane.
For instance, Irving’s stat line from the Michigan State game indicates dominance, but it can’t replicate watching him dribble the ball through three defenders for an easy layup with just seconds remaining on the shot clock late in the second half, effectively deflating any Spartan comeback hopes. It doesn’t show the way the ball bounced from the court to either of his hands like a yo-yo, driving two of the nation’s best guards in Korie Lucious and Kalin Lucas crazy. It shows the 17 points Irving had in the second half against Butler, but not the court leadership he showed in running the offense.
Unfortunately, though, I was born months after Hurley’s freshman season, and didn’t go through my Duke conversion until years after Williams graduated, so I have a hard time making a judgment call on which of the three is best.
But, Sports Illustrated columnist and former writer for The Chronicle Seth Davis has no such trouble. He graduated after Hurley’s junior season, and since then has seen every guard the Blue Devils have had to offer.
“The closest comparison to Irving is Bobby Hurley,” Davis wrote in an email. “As talented as Jason Williams was, he would be the first to admit that he did not have the grasp of the nuances of the position that Kyrie has at this stage.”
With three ACC Rookie of the Week awards already to his name, Irving has assured that he is no longer playing the part of ACC second-fiddle to Barnes. And you can put this in your file of absurdly-premature, SI cover jinx-worthy predictions: Irving isn’t just pacing himself for the National Rookie of the Year award, but a Naismith Trophy.
So Duke fans, after preparing to endure just one year of Harrison Barnes before he left for the NBA, it’s probably time to start turning that attention to one of your own. In his column on SI.com last Thursday, Davis projected Irving as the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft, and at this point the race isn’t close.
So enjoy this season, because at the very least you’re seeing something special. At best you’re seeing the greatest backcourt player Duke has ever seen.
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