Mark Mitchell announces return to Duke
Forward who started nearly every game will return for sophomore season
The last image of Mark Mitchell in Duke attire won’t be one from a game in which he didn’t play.
Mitchell announced Thursday morning that he’s returning to Duke for his sophomore season. The 6-8, 220-pounder started every game for the Blue Devils this past season until the final one, when it was determined he couldn’t play against Tennessee because of a knee injury.
Mitchell’s absence in what turned out to be Duke’s final game served as the best evidence of how valuable he was for the Blue Devils.
The Kansas City native is a lock-down perimeter defender and was the linchpin of Duke’s defense, which held opponents under their scoring average in 32 of 36 games. In the NCAA tournament loss to Tennessee, Mitchell would’ve been called upon to defend Olivier Nkamhoua, who scored 27 points in the Volunteers’ 65-52 win.
Returning to Duke should help Mitchell as much as it helps Duke, given he’s bound to take a step forward offensively. The freshman has a raw offensive game and an unconventional jump shot.
That’s not to say, necessarily, that he was a poor offensive player this past season. Mitchell was fourth on the team in scoring (9.1) and his 35.2% clip on 3-pointers (19 of 54) was the second-best mark on the team.
Duke was 15-1 this past season when Mitchell had at least 10 points, underscoring how dangerous Duke became when he was effective in scoring on dribble drives and hitting occasional 3-pointers.
Mitchell is the second player from Duke's freshman class to announce his return for a sophomore season this week. Point guard Tyrese Proctor made his announcement Monday, while freshman wing Dariq Whitehead announced Wednesday that he's entering the NBA draft.
It's a three-up, three-down situation for Duke in terms of decisions. The Blue Devils still await announcements from freshman 7-footers Dereck Lively II and ACC rookie of the year Kyle Filipowski, as well as junior guard Jeremy Roach.