Star rookies in Vanderbilt's Blakes, Duke's Fournier headline Durham site
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — After the first day of summer workouts for Vanderbilt, Jordyn Oliver had to call her dad and tell him about her new teammate, Mikayla Blakes. There was just something about her that was different.
'She came in Day One, cooking,' Oliver says. 'She's a hooper, a dawg.'
Blakes has proven to be anything but an ordinary rookie for the Commodores, who are the No. 7 seed in the Birmingham 2 regional and open the NCAA Tournament against No. 10 Oregon on Friday at Duke. Blakes is eighth in the nation in scoring with 23.2 points per game.
But she isn't the only stellar youngster at this site for the NCAA Tournament's opening weekend. While Blakes won the SEC Freshman of the Year award, Duke forward Toby Fournier was voted ACC Rookie of the Year. The Blue Devils are seeded second and will face No. 15 Lehigh.
Fournier, a 6-foot-2 forward from Toronto, Canada, gained attention before stepping on Duke's campus for dunking videos that went viral. She has yet to throw down a slam this season for the Blue Devils but leads the ACC champs in scoring with 13.4 points per game, doing so in just 19.9 minutes per game. A better assessment of her impact is that she averages 27.0 points per 40 minutes, which ranks 14th nationally.
Blakes grabbed the spotlight this season with awesome offensive performances. The 5-foot-8 guard from New Jersey piled up 53 points in a Jan. 30 win at Florida, then poured in 55 points in a Feb. 16 victory at Auburn.
Not only did Blakes set the NCAA single-game points record for a freshman – surpassing Delaware's Elena Delle Donne – but she joined Mississippi Valley State's Patricia Hoskins as the only players to score 53 points or more twice in a season.
'I think she's a great player and a great competitor,' Fournier said of Blakes, adding that the two played against each other in youth basketball at different camps and AAU tournaments.
Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph knew that Blakes had the potential to be special when she was recruiting her.
'We recognized her level of play, her confidence and competitiveness, her will to win,' Ralph said. 'She has elevated our standard.'
Carolina Connections
While a potential Sweet 16 matchup with their rival looms, the Blue Devils can easily see connections to the North Carolina Tar Heels all throughout this site.
The coach of Lehigh, Addie Micir, played for UNC's Courtney Banghart at Princeton.
Ralph's mother, Marsha Lake (Mann) starred for UNC in the early 1970s and was the program's first All-American.
And Oregon's point guard is Deja Kelly, who played for UNC for four seasons before joining the Ducks. Kelly is 2-1 in Cameron Indoor Stadium and is all too familiar with the jeers from the Cameron Crazies.
'This is, of course, a historic building, a historic gym,' Kelly said. 'I'm excited to be back here with a different squad.'
Duke cautious of Lehigh
In the 2012 men's NCAA Tournament, No. 15 Lehigh upset Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils 75-70. Now, 13 years later, Duke coach Kara Lawson reminded her team of the shared history between these two squads on Thursday morning.
'You have to have the appropriate fear every time you go into a game. Like, you have to know that you can be beaten,' Lawson said. 'If you don't think it's possible at all, you'll slip in your preparation.'
Lehigh is the best free throw shooting team in the nation, knocking down 81.1% of their charity stripe attempts this season.
Clash of styles
Oregon and Vanderbilt have found success in different ways. The Commodores like to play up-tempo and get up a lot of shots. They're seventh in the nation in scoring with 83.6 points per game.
The Ducks like to muck up contests and lean on defense. They're outside of the top 250 teams in 3-pointers attempted this season but are 33rd nationally in defensive rating.
'It's a contrast of styles,' Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. 'We want to grind it out. They want to get out and go. If we have to get out and go with them, we're in trouble.'
___
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Mitchell Northam, The Associated Press
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Orlando Magic: Rasheer Fleming, Saint Joseph's Junior, forward, 6-8¼, 232, 20 2024-25 stats: 14.75 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 1.4 spg, 1.3 apg, 53.1% FG, 39% 3PT, 74.3% FT Fleming is a mobile forward who plays a physical game and has strong footwork to finesse his way around defenders. He likes to get easy buckets in transition, his 3-point percentage in nearly five attempts per game is encouraging and he is valuable in pick-and-rolls as the screener. Defensively, he deflects passes and can protect the rim. Fleming averaged 18.8 points and 7.7 rebounds and shot 58.9% in the last six regular-season Atlantic 10 Conference contests. 26. Brooklyn Nets: Noah Penda, Le Mans (France) Forward, 6-8, 225, 20 2024-25 stats: 10.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.3 spg, 45.8% FG, 34.7% 3PT, 67.9% FT A solidly-built wing, Penda may not be the most explosive athlete, but he has flashed excellent footwork in the low block, has steady enough ball-handling abilities and can knock down 3s with relative efficiency. Penda has also shown that he can move well without the ball, often slashing through a defense on cuts for easy buckets. Improved as a shooter and scorer as the season progressed. 27. Brooklyn Nets: Walter Clayton Jr., Florida Senior, guard, 6-2, 199, 22 2024-25 stats: 18.3 ppg, 4.2 apg, 3.7 rpg, 1.2 spg, 44.8% FG, 38.6% 3PT, 85.7% FT Named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, Clayton had 34 points in the national semifinals against Auburn and 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the championship victory against Houston. He also scored 30 points in a regional final against Texas Tech and was 21-for-42 from the field in the Gators' final three games. Has range on 3-point shots and can shoot off the dribble or pass but needs to improve as a playmaker and defender. 28. Boston Celtics: Hugo Gonzalez, Real Madrid (Spain) Guard-forward, 6-7, 207, 19 2024-25 stats: 3.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 41% FG, 28.1% 3PT, 73.9% FT One of Europe's top young NBA prospects, Gonzalez is a versatile wing with the ability to score inside and out. He can handle the basketball, pass and is a surprising shot-blocker. He's still raw. 29. Phoenix Suns: Kam Jones, Marquette Senior, guard, 6-5, 205, 23 2024-25 stats: 19.2 ppg, 5.9 apg, 4.5 rpg, 1.4 spg, 48.3% FG, 31.1% 3PT, 64.8% FT All-Big East first-team selection, Jones is a strong, physical guard who can finish on drives to the rim, possesses solid footwork and isn't afraid of contact. He improved as a playmaker/passer this season and is a solid rebounder with at least 10 five-plus rebound games. The left-hander had a dip in his 3-point shooting percentage this season but has shown the ability to make them off the dribble and on catch-and-shoots as a career 37% shooter from deep. Jones was solid in the Big East tournament with 28 points (11-for-22 shooting, 5-for-10 on 3s), five assists and four rebounds in a victory against Xavier and 24 points (3-for-12 on 3s) and seven rebounds in a loss to St. John's. He had 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in a NCAA tournament first-round loss to New Mexico. 30. Los Angeles Clippers: Drake Powell, North Carolina Freshman, guard-forward, 6-5¼, 200, 19 2024-25 stats: 7.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.1 apg, 48.3% FG, 37.9% 3PT, 64.8% FT Active on both ends of the court as a shot-blocker and physical and versatile defender, and as a player who likes to run the court, launch catch-and-shoot 3s and go one-on-one in the halfcourt. Playing on a deep team, especially on the perimeter, Powell doesn't possess eye-popping offensive stats but his shooting stats reveal his potential. Was an efficient scorer in limited opportunities and can be a solid rebounder from the perimeter.
