Normally, this is the space you go to so you can read about Spurs draft prospects and get to know them a little better. Well, in this special edition of the prospect watch, we are going to revisit a prospect after he has a breakout or especially great performance. That certainly applies to Duke’s Grayson Allen, who we profiled last year.
On Tuesday, top-ranked Duke played No. 2 Michigan State in the Champions Classic — an annual double header to kickstart the college basketball season — and despite being surrounded by five-star freshmen teammates, he was the one who shined. He dropped 37 points on a team that is supposed to compete for a Final Four berth and is considered one of the best teams in the country, as evidenced by their ranking.
Allen was doing it from everywhere on the floor, as he hit 11 of his 20 shots, went 7-of-11 from beyond the arc and made just some plain ridiculous shots. He had a shot that was at least five feet beyond the arc to beat the halftime buzzer and he never shied away from the big moments in a game that was played within about a seven-point window until the very last minute of the game.
He hit all eight of his free throws, grabbed three rebounds, dished out two assists and only turned the ball over once. This was the kind of performance he was capable of last year, but he could never produce because Luke Kennard was the go-to shot maker. Now, Allen is the guy and clearly he can handle it.
While Allen did miss a few paint shots, he made up for it by getting to the charity stripe and hitting some big time triples to keep the Blue Devils undefeated in the season. He will definitely be a player to keep an eye on as he is still projected to land within the Spurs’ draft range this season.
You can catch all of his highlights from the game in the video below (it runs about eight minutes):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlFkHZCseRQ
