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, Onome Akinbode-James, Nyah Green and Miela Goodchild.
Shayeann Day-Wilson
Year: Freshman
Height: 5-foot-6
Position: Guard
Last year’s statline: N/A
Game breakdown: Day-Wilson, a native of Toronto, comes to Duke as the No. 41-ranked recruit in the 2021 class and the top point guard from Canada. Though without a senior season at Crestwood Prep, the 5-foot-6 point guard has a knack for scoring and playmaking as she piled on 17.3 points and 8.2 assists per game in her junior season. A proven winner, Day-Wilson looks to bring to Durham the same dominance she brought to her high school, which won 2019 and 2020 Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association championships.
As one of only two freshmen on the roster (Lee Volker), she lacks experience at the higher level. Kara Lawson has a plethora of experience on this team, though the 2021-22 Blue Devils have limited experience within the Duke program. Not competing at the high school level last year was no big deal for Day-Wilson, though, as the Canadian represented her country at the U19 Women's World Cup this past summer in Hungary. She was the second-highest scorer in the tournament with an impressive statline of 18.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists—also second overall—and 1.3 steals against the top international competition in her class.
This was all possible because Day-Wilson has an excellent sense for the game at the point guard spot, as the All-Canadian selection possesses great speed, solid driving abilities and a great stroke from the perimeter. Her playmaking is exemplified by her assist mark as she has a high tendency to dish the ball to the open player. She is improving defensively as well, giving her a solid all-around game from the point.
Role on the team: Slotted behind projected starter Vanessa de Jesus, Day-Wilson will likely play off the bench for at least the start of the season. De Jesus, a former espnW top-50 recruit as well, played well in each of the four games Duke played last season, scoring 12.0 points and tallying 3.8 assists per contest. While de Jesus has a year on Day-Wilson, the latter’s pure scoring and playmaking abilities are likely to shine when she steps on the floor. Day-Wilson can use her aforementioned well-rounded skill set to take over a game if needed.
While starting on the bench is a reasonable expectation, it may not be long before Day-Wilson gets a few starts along with increased minutes if Lawson sees the freshman flip a switch. Regardless, Day-Wilson has a bright future in Duke blue ahead of her.
Projected stats: 5.0 PPG, 2.5 APG, 15 MPG
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Micah Hurewitz is a Trinity senior and was previously a sports managing editor of The Chronicle's 118th volume.