Latest Chronicle Profile - Nik Khamenia

A precocious talent, Khamenia will need to get stronger, but does he have game? Yes, he does.

As is so often the case under Mike Krzyzewski and Jon Scheyer, Duke has brought in a highly promising freshman class. The Boozer Twins get a lot of the attention of course and more recently, Dame Sarr has gotten a lot of press. But it’s not smart to overlook Nik Khamenia, who is the subject of the latest Duke Chronicle profile.

We’re really excited to see him play. You can’t compare him to Mike Dunleavy exactly, but like Dunleavy, he comes to Duke as a very thin player with a neat toolbox.

Khamenia runs and shoots beatifully and also passes very, very well.

From the Chronicle: “While Khamenia is gifted at recognizing where he needs to be, he often lacks the strength and physicality to get into position in the paint, a trait that can be exploited by more athletic collegiate opponents. As a result, he occasionally hesitates on the defense, overpowered against larger opponents.“

He looks exactly like what he is: a physically immature teenager with an unusual gift for basketball. What’s going to be fun with Khamenia is watching him as conditioning kicks in.

This takes us back to Dunleavy: as a freshman, he was way ahead of his peers in his grasp of the game but he was painfully skinny.

By his junior year, he had become a completely different player. It seems unlikely Khamenia will be here that long, but watching him grow will be a real treat.