With the college basketball season just around the corner, the time has officially come to take a deeper look at the 2021-22 Duke women's basketball roster. The Blue Zone has you covered with player previews for each member of the team. Be sure to check out the previous previews: Jiselle Havas, Emma Schmidt, Lee Volker, Amaya Finklea-Guity and Onome Akinbode-James.
Nyah Green
Year: Junior
Height: 6-foot-1
Position: Guard
Last year’s statline: 2.2 PPG, 0.2 APG, 10.4 MPG (Louisville)
Game breakdown: When Nyah Green became the first of six incoming Duke women’s basketball transfers this offseason, it was the end of a partnership with Louisville that saw Green commit to the program in ninth grade as the country’s top-ranked recruit. The former McDonald's All-American arrived at Louisville as Prospects Nation’s seventh-ranked player nationwide and was named to the Preseason ACC Newcomer Watch List, but ultimately redshirted her freshman year.
It came as a surprise, then, to see Green play such a small role for the Cardinals last season. Green played just 52 minutes over five contests before stepping away from the program. She may not have much college film to review, but Green’s ceiling is still high as a big guard who should fit nicely at her natural backcourt position after momentarily sliding into the frontcourt at Louisville.
For the time being, the junior guard brings good ballhandling ability and a promising stroke to this revamped Blue Devils squad, but the true nature of Green’s college game will surely clear up a bit more once she gets a few games with Duke under her belt. The development of Green’s game could, in the end, boil down to her role within head coach Kara Lawson’s team blueprint.
Role on the team: It certainly appears as if Green will have much more of a defined role with the Blue Devils than she did with the Cardinals, starting with her shift back to the backcourt. In a January interview with The Chronicle shortly after her commitment, Green cited a desire to return to her natural position as a key component of her decision to join Duke.
With so many new faces on the roster, it remains murky as to who stands where in the backcourt rotation, but sophomore Vanessa de Jesus and freshman Shayeann Day-Wilson will likely share point guard duties while Green jockeys with longtime Blue Devil Miela Goodchild for backup minutes at the two. The Blue Devils boast a deep, talented roster, and it would not be surprising to see Green’s minutes fluctuate by matchup, at least early on. The bottom line, however, is that if Green is looking for a fresh start, this year’s Duke team seems like the right place for her to be.
Projected stats: 4.5 PPG, 1.0 APG, 11 MPG
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Jonathan Levitan is a Trinity senior and was previously sports editor of The Chronicle's 118th volume.