From kid to Man Man: Khaman Maluach is the next dominant Duke center

Khaman Maluach slams home a finish against Pittsburgh.
Khaman Maluach slams home a finish against Pittsburgh.

“The big boy blocked Hunter [Sallis'] layup in the first half, it looked like a solar eclipse. The basket, the ball and Hunter disappeared, it was amazing. Great play by him. He’s a really good player.”

That’s what Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes had to say about Duke freshman center Khaman Maluach after Saturday’s matchup. And Forbes is right. While it hasn’t necessarily been smooth sailing, the youngster has developed into the force down low the Blue Devils need him to be.

Having an elite big man is quite the luxury in college basketball. While the back-to-the-basket center is largely antiquated, high-major programs look to find bigs who can handle the ball in space, operate on the perimeter and, above all else, protect the rim. 

However, this caliber of center doesn't just appear out of thin air, especially not at 18. Despite that, Duke in recent years seems to have mastered the development of its bigs en route to becoming bonafide presences down low and eventual starting-caliber players in the NBA, even if they only stay a year or two. 

With the exception of last year’s squad — when head coach Jon Scheyer elected to switch forward Kyle Filipowski to the center spot — every Duke team since 2014 has featured a center who would eventually play in the NBA, a strong number of them lottery picks. While former post anchors like Marques Bolden and Vernon Carey Jr. saw limited time in the association, Wendell Carter Jr., Dereck Lively II, Mark Williams and Jahlil Okafor all were drafted in the top half of the first round after spending one or two years on campus. 

The adjustment from the high school level to the collegiate ranks is nothing to laugh at, especially down low. The game speeds up significantly from a mental standpoint, while opposing players are bigger, faster and stronger than young centers have ever seen, no matter how tough their prep schedules were. While the 7-foot-2 Maluach already had experience playing top-flight talent both at the NBA Academy Africa and 2024 Paris Olympics, college has still been a major adjustment.

This could be due to his relative inexperience with the sport. Maluach did not begin playing basketball until 2019, putting him developmentally behind most of his peers. 

“I'm now playing against more athletic guys, faster guys, so it's different from what I played before, because all the guys move differently,” Maluach said at preseason media day. 

Soccer was Maluach’s first sport, a game that requires a much different skill set than basketball. One of the program’s main goals was to get the big man acclimated to the fundamentals of basketball as quickly as possible. 

Former assistant coach and big man developer Amile Jefferson left to take a position with the Boston Celtics before Maluach got to campus, but another previous Blue Devil big man in Justin Robinson has assumed that role for the post player. He has taken responsibility for most of the skill development for not just Maluach, but all of Duke’s bigs. 

“[It was] really a lot of the hand-eye coordination, just getting him used to that, getting him comfortable, getting his grip strength, and then we would build from there,” Robinson told The Chronicle.

To help ease the adjustment to college, Robinson was there for Maluach every step of the way, even following him back to Africa to help him prepare for the Olympics with the South Sudanese team. 

His game has progressed drastically from the time the young center stepped on campus in the summer. With Maliq Brown out due to injury, Maluach has successfully assumed the brunt of responsibility down low both offensively and defensively. In back-to-back contests against Notre Dame and Miami, he added two double-doubles, chipping in a season-best 19 points against the Fighting Irish and 15 boards against the Hurricanes.

“To find a 7-foot-2 guy that has the motor that he has ... He can guard one through five. I think he's shown that now with his switching while still protecting the rim. I think his rebounding has really progressed, and I think his offensive stuff is going to keep getting better,” Scheyer said at a Jan. 13 availability.

As of Jan. 26, Maluach has the second-best offensive rating in the nation according to KenPom at 147.2. While his defensive impact came along much faster due to his size and natural instincts, he has become a dependable piece for Duke to count on down low on both ends. 

Instead of just adding a few blocks here or there, Maluach now affects shots at will in the paint, and he continues to grow more comfortable switching onto smaller guards on the perimeter. This has transformed the Blue Devil defense from a good unit into a ruthless force, stifling opponent after opponent through conference play. 

“He already is, but he's going to be a key guy for us down the stretch as we get closer to the tournament. Where I really want him to develop right now, and I think he really can, is on defense with his ability to protect the rim,” Robinson said. “He obviously has a natural gift for it, with his size, his length, but to really work the mental side of it … there's a little bit more of a mind game that I think he can learn.”

He also continues to increase his shot diet as Scheyer expands his offensive role, as the youngster has gone from just a lob threat to being able to handle quick passes down low and score in the post. 

“On offense, I want him to continue to just keep the ball high and be able to finish in traffic. We can hit him now on shorter rolls, and he can go and take one dribble and go finish, or just power up and finish over guards who try to go and help,” Robinson said.

The Rumbek, South Sudan, native has a lot in common with former Duke centers Williams and Lively, both in terms of pedigree and playstyle. All three entered as highly touted recruits with measurables off the charts, and they excel at protecting the rim and running the floor as lob threats. But despite their value as recruits, all three were raw talents when they came to Durham. 

To help overcome deficiencies as freshmen that often come from a lack of game reps — Lively, Williams and Maluach are at no physical disadvantage — coaching becomes a major factor. 

Luckily for Williams and Lively, they had Jefferson to guide them on their journey. After Williams’ freshman season — where Duke finished 13-11 and failed to make the tournament — the former big man and only three-time captain in program history was brought in as the team’s director of player development. 

At the end of his rookie season, Williams finished strong despite Duke missing the dance, going for 23 points and 19 rebounds in an ACC Tournament matchup with Louisville to close the campaign. After an offseason working with Jefferson, Williams was primed to take the ACC and nation by storm.

In a 2022 interview with The Chronicle, Jefferson said, “I think one of the most fulfilling things for me about being a coach is when you teach somebody something, they retain it, and then you see them do it on the court. I mean, it's a cool feeling.” 

The Virginia Beach, Va., native’s game improved tremendously in his second year. He won ACC Defensive Player of the Year and ranked 12th nationally in blocks as the Blue Devils rolled to the Final Four.

The same fortunes came to Lively during his lone year in Durham, this time with Jefferson serving as assistant coach. While the preseason ACC Rookie of the Year did not quite live up to those expectations, only averaging 5.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, he still overcame a leg injury that delayed his progression to become indispensable to Duke down the stretch, landing on the ACC All-Defensive team and eventually the Dallas Mavericks with the 12th pick in the 2023 NBA draft. Perhaps most importantly to Duke faithful, he chipped in a historic performance against North Carolina with eight blocks and 14 rebounds. 

Maluach’s development is far from over. Both Robinson and Maluach himself would tell you that. But while there is much to work on, the South Sudanese product is ascending rapidly to the level of recent elite Duke bigs, a development that both bodes well for his future career and the Blue Devils’ chances for cutting the nets down in April. 

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