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For the second consecutive fall, Duke will start the year on top of the polls and with almost complete roster turnover.
"I'm pleased with our team," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said Tuesday. "We're not a team yet, but the development of our team. We're a much different team than last year in that we're big."
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Sophomore Javin DeLayrier added: "We're going to be definitely intimidating. We have a lot of size. Got a lot of versatile guys who can create a lot of mismatches. It's going to be a lot of fun."
Grayson Allen is the only guy with more than one career college start on the team. Five freshman are expected to be big contributors, led by Marvin Bagley III.
"I've never played on a team where all of our big guys can get out and run," Bagley said. "I'm really excited to be playing with this group of guys, and I think we can do something special"
As for Allen, he's again a team captain. The senior is distancing himself from a tripping incident that led to his demotion and suspension.
"If I get angry, I've got to turn that to my team. If I get excited, I've got to turn that to my team," Allen said. "Not an individual battle that's in the end meaningless to the whole game. That's where I've grown and that's what I learning to do this year."
One big difference from a year ago is that this squad starts injury free. Healthy uber talent could be a golden ticket this year for the Blue Devils.