Latest Duke Chronicle Profile - Sebastian Wilkins

A lifelong Duke fan, Wilkins is living his dream as a Blue Devil

We’ve talked before about how often we’ve seen Duke players who became Duke fans. JJ Redick famously saw Christian Laettner hit The Shot against Kentucky, then tell his dad he was going to Duke.

This year, we learned that Khaman Maluach watched Zion Williamson video on his phone late at night in Africa.

We don’t know who might have influenced Duke freshman Sebastian Wilkins, but he told his mother he wanted to be a Blue Devil when he was six and got her to take him to visit campus.

Having the dream is not uncommon but making it come true is another thing altogether. Wilkins is now a Blue Devil, so what will he contribute to the team?

That’s what the Duke Chronicle looks at here. Check out these comments:

“Wilkins’ well-rounded play was likely a large part in his reclassification and commitment. He works best off the ball, ideally alongside a slashing combo guard who can collapse a defense. But with the ball in his hands, Wilkins can put the screws to a rotating defense, pull up from behind the arc, drive inside for a midrange jumper or convert a layup through traffic.

“Across high school and AAU play, Wilkins worked defenders in the post with a variety of moves, getting to his spots with ease and quickness rarely seen in a forward at his size. However, isolation scoring was not necessarily seen as a strength of Wilkins, but in head coach Jon Scheyer’s system, Wilkins will likely not need to create for himself offensively.”`

Unlike a lot of recent Duke freshmen, Wilkins is probably not going to be a one-and done, but he has the potential to develop into a solid player who could still end up in the draft.