Looking ahead to Duke and Wake Forest Men’s Basketball!

Connor O'Neill, who covers Duke and Wake Forest, is now joining us.

And I want to get right to it, because Steve Forbes always has a new roster. Who are the new guys? Well, when you have one transfer comes in and wins ACC Player of the Year in Alondis Williams two years ago, and another transfer guard comes in. I think Tyree Appleby was second in voting by the media and coaches, and then he won it for the AP voters. You're going to look at all right, who's the next transfer guard?

And it's Hunter Salas. He's different than Alondis and Tyree Appleby. He is a better defensive player. He's probably not the elite level point guard that Tyree Appleby was, but he comes from Gonzaga. He was a five star recruit coming out of Omaha, actually, who's the weird little connection with when Wake got him.

And then a couple of months later, we're in Omaha for baseball for the College World Series. But he's going to be really good. He had 27 in the open in the not open or the exhibition against Alabama. And Cam Hildreth had 38.

So you're looking at two really compact and well put together guards that are able to penetrate. And I think they combined for something like five threes. So he's going to be one. They're waiting on an NCAA waiver for Efton Reed, the third.

He also comes here in Gonzaga, but he also he is a two time transfer already. He's in that NBA purgatory where you're just sitting and hoping and waiting and feel good about their prospects and getting in this year. But I think they feel as good as anybody ever feels with something in the NCAA sport.

Yeah, it depends on which way the wind is blowing. And I tell Steve Forbes not to call out Charlie Baker like Mack Brown did and put the pressure on them because then they have their backs up against the wall and they don't like that at the NCAA. They're very they're very petty, I believe, at the NCAA. It's good to see Damari Mancento back because I thought everything kind of turned when they lost him last year. Yeah, he's there. They're hoping for a December return for Damari. And that's kind of one of the struggles with, you know, we we've got we as in the media, we got to watch a preseason practice, we get to watch the exhibition game in Washington in the back of your mind that they're just not going to be complete until at least January. When you think about where Damari is in the rehab process from, I think it was a torn pellet tendon in his knee at NC State.

And they don't know if the high vest and read the third. They were missing two guys, two transfers. I haven't mentioned a Brahmo Sanka from UCLA is a 6 6 6 7 3 and the wing type who brings a little bit of a lock to the table. And they have Kevin Miller who is referred to as Boopy.

And I have yet to discover where the origin of that nickname comes from. It's fun, but he's a he's a high level scorer. He is. He's a little more like Tyree Appleby.

He is a small point guard who can really get up and down the floor quickly. And so both of those guys didn't play in the exhibition. So you're just watching it and you're trying to figure out, okay, this is this is where they go to Sanka. This is where they go to Boopy.

I have to start getting used to that sounding normal. Yeah, they're just they're they're not exactly going into the season with a full deck. It's just a matter of filling in the pieces and answering questions until they get some of the guys back. And, you know, the first I think the first domino to fall has to be whether Eston Reed is right playable this year. Hopefully he won't have to wait as long as Tez Walker did at UNC. We're talking with Connor O'Neill about the Demon Deacons.

Let me flip it over to Duke real quick and they will start on Monday. Look, we know about all the hype. Who are you most interested in seeing when we start the season? I think it's gotta be Tyrese Proctor.

I know that's kind of the trendy pick. I know Kyle Philipowski is the first ACC freshman of the year to return for a sophomore season in a decade. Well, and a lot of that is because Duke has had a bunch of freshmen of the year that are one and done.

A bunch of them have been the first overall pick, but I just, we know what Kyle Philipowski is. We've seen him enough in the preseason to know that the hip surgeries are behind him. Like he moves fluidly. He's moving really well. It's not a concern for the staff going into the year.

It's not a concern for him. You know, we kind of, we know what Mark Mitchell is. We know what a lot of these guys are. I think we still kind of don't know how good Tyrese Proctor can be. We saw it at the end of last season, but I still go back to, he, he did all that last year ramping into the season and then adjusting throughout the season to the point where he was one of the best guards in the ACC. And he did it all without having a summer on campus. Like he didn't get to Duke until right before the fall semester started last year. So now that he's had a full off season of being in the Duke weight room, being on campus, developing chemistry with the, with the four incoming freshmen, furthering chemistry with all the returners they have. And I think that guy is going to be really, really good. And I would not be surprised if it winds up being, uh, I know, I know Philipowski was the preseason ACC player of the year. I would not be surprised if Tyrese Proctor kind of becomes the guy that people are looking at by the end of the year saying, wow, Tyrese Proctor, he, he might be the most valuable player on Duke's team just because he's a point guard. He's, he's a scorer. He's a facilitator.

He's going to be asked to do a lot of things. And I kind of think he can answer that bell. On the low, he was my pick for ACC player of the year.

Uh, I think if it is true and he is the player of the year, I think Duke is going to be playing into April. Uh, I think he is that good. He is also an elite defender.

Uh, that doesn't hurt anybody. He is long. Uh, and I love his compete level. I keep using hockey terms today. I love his compete, but uh, Duke is obviously very deep and we can't wait to see it start on Monday. Connor O'Neill at Connor O'Neill underscore D I for either Deacons or devils illustrated. It doesn't matter.

He's got it all on lock. I appreciate your time, man. Uh, thank you so much. And we'll talk to you throughout the year. Thank you, Adam. Appreciate it.