Jim Boeheim gives surprising take on North Carolina upset over Duke

Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse Orange won’t be one of the ACC teams competing in the NCAA Tournament. Still, the longtime ‘Cuse basketball coach has plenty of experience with the conference this season and recently gave a take that may surprise college basketball fans regarding the Duke Blue Devils‘ blunders in their final two contests before the official start of March Madness.

On Tuesday morning, Boeheim joined ESPN’s First Take and Stepehen A. Smith asked him if he was surprised by Duke’s surprising upset loss vs. North Carolina to spoil Coach K’s final game at Cameron Indoor.

“I am not surprised, they are very good – but you have to understand, their three best players are all freshmen,” the Syracuse front man said of the Blue Devils falling to UNC.

Boeheim — who has a longstanding close friendship with Mike Krzyzewski, who is prepping the No. 2 seeded Blue Devils for his final run at a national title — noted that Duke is loaded with talent but lacks the one thing that often separates championship-caliber teams in March.

“They are all freshmen,” Boeheim said of the 2022 Duke roster.

The Orange head coach is referring to the trio of starters — Paolo Banchero, AJ Griffin and Trevor Keels — while starting point guard Jeremy Roach is just a sophomore. Wendell Moore Jr. (junior) is the most-experienced member of the go-to starting lineup. Mark Williams (sophomore) started the final 11 games for Duke and the only senior on the team is Joey Baker, who appeared in 23 of the 24 regular season games but started just once.

Jim Boeheim weighs in on Duke’s chances in NCAA Tournament

It’s important to note last year’s conference tournaments were cancelled and Duke’s last game of 2020 took place on Nov. 29 vs. Winthrop. Baker is the lone Blue Devil who was part of the 2018-19 squad that reached the Elite Eight before falling to Michigan State.

Boeheim believes Duke’s youth is the one factor that could hinder the Blue Devils from making a magical run and winning a national title to send Coach K off in the best way imaginable.

“That shows in the tournament when you’re playing against guys that have been there for five years. Miami has fifth year-players, Virginia Tech has fifth-year players. A lot of teams in this tournament has fifth-year players. It’s hard to overcome that.

That’s the one thing that will beat Duke in the NCAA tournament, is that their three best players are freshman. Mike Krzyzewski can overcome that, but it’s not going to be easy. I look at Arizona, Gonzaga, they got a lot of veteran guys. I like their teams. There are a couple other teams with more veteran guys that are going to be tough in the tournament. I think it’s going to be hard for Duke, as much as I like their talent, I like their coach, but the three best players being freshman will be hard to overcome.”