Per Duke Comms:
Duke freshman Jalen Johnson has been named the ACC Freshman of the Week after helping lead the Blue Devils to a pair of conference wins last week.
In the home victories over Georgia Tech on Tuesday and Clemson on Saturday, Johnson averaged 13.5 points on .556 shooting, 7.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He registered his fourth double-digit scoring effort of the season against the Yellow Jackets, pouring in 18 points on 7-of-11 field goal shooting and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed six defensive rebounds, dished out two assists and had three steals.
The Milwaukee, Wis., native filled the stat sheet again on Saturday, recording nine points, eight boards and five assists to just one turnover in Duke’s 79-53 win over the Tigers.
Since returning from a foot injury that sidelined him for three games, Johnson has been one of the best all-around performers in the ACC. The freshman is averaging 15.0 points, a team-leading 8.3 rebounds and shooting .500 from the floor over the last four contests. For his efforts last week, Johnson was also tapped Duke’s PNC Achievers Student-Athlete of the Week.
This marks Johnson’s second ACC Freshman of the Week honor this season, as he earned the award on Nov. 30 after posting a stat line of 19 points, 19 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots in the season-opening win against Coppin State. With Johnson and teammate DJ Steward each picking up two ACC Freshman of the Week honors, Duke is the conference’s only team to receive four rookie of the week recognitions this season.
Duke has now had an ACC Freshman of the Week in 64 of a possible 128 weeks over the last seven-plus seasons. Eighteen different Blue Devils have won the award at least once in that time.
Johnson and the Blue Devils (7-5, 5-3 ACC) face a road test on ESPN’s Big Monday, as they take on Miami in Coral Gables, Fla., at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
