Courtesy of Duke Comms:
Duke freshman Paolo Banchero has been named the ACC Freshman of the Week after helping lead the Blue Devils to a pair of double-digit wins in conference play.
Banchero averaged 22.5 points on .559 field goal shooting with 6.5 rebounds in victories against Wake Forest on Wednesday and NC State on Saturday. In his first road ACC contest, the Seattle, Wash., native knocked down a career-high 11 field goals, including two three-pointers, for 24 points and five rebounds with no turnovers to lead Duke to a 76-64 win in Winston-Salem. In Saturday’s 88-73 win over the Wolfpack at Cameron Indoor Stadium, he shot 8-of-11 from the floor in a 21-point outing with 13 coming in the second half. Banchero also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists.
Through 16 games this season, Banchero leads all true freshmen nationally in scoring (17.9) while ranking third in field goal percentage (.505) and fifth in rebounding (7.4). He has scored 20+ points in each of his last three games, and his seven 20-point games this season lead all major conference true freshmen. The rookie is also one of three players ranking in the top 10 in the ACC in scoring (sixth), rebounding (fifth) and field goal percentage (seventh).
Banchero is Duke’s sixth ACC Freshman of the Week selection in 10 weeks this season. He has now earned the honor four times (Nov. 15, Nov. 29, Dec. 27), while classmates AJ Griffin (Nov. 22) and Trevor Keels (Dec. 20) have also received the award. Over the last nine-plus seasons (since the start of 2013-14), Duke has had an ACC Rookie of the Week in 70 of a possible 146 weeks. Twenty-one different Blue Devils have won the award at least once in that time.
