UNC Basketball: Vince Carter praises Duke freshman Zion Williamson

UNC great Vince Carter praises high-flying Duke freshman Williamson

Duke freshman forward Zion Williamson has been making headlines since before he ever stepped onto a college basketball court. And he was in the spotlight long before he became the Blue Devils’ human highlight reel. In fact, he was a household name before he even committed to Duke or graduated high school.

The 6-foot-7, 285-pound phenom was touted as an athletic, high-flying dunker with uncanny strength, and a motor to match it. And make no mistake, he’s been that much and more in his first 14 games with the Blue Devils. But it’s his ability to play all-around solid basketball that was often undersold.

Williamson burst onto the collegiate scene with a 28-point performance against the Kentucky Wildcats in his first game with the Blue Devils. He hit 11-of-13 shots from the floor in that game, knocked down his first three-point attempt, and 5-of-7 from the free throw line.

In the 13 games since, it’s been much the same for Williamson, who’s averaging 20.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.9 blocks in just over 26 minutes per game. He’s hitting nearly 68 percent of his shots from the floor — granted, many of those are dunks — and better than 70 percent from the free throw line.

He’s notched double-doubles in seven games this season, and in five of his last six. He’s recorded double-digit points in all 14 of Duke’s games, 20 or more points eight times, and hasn’t scored less than 13 in any one contest.

It’s been impressive, to say the least, and apparently it’s more than just casual fans and onlookers who have taken notice.

Former Tar Heel and 8-time NBA All-Star Vince Carter was recently asked what he thought of the talented wing, and whether or not he’ll be prepared for the NBA when the time comes. Carter thinks Williamson will be ready for the professional ranks whenever he decides to leave Duke, but cautions him to not rely solely on athleticism, and to continue developing his game.

"“He’ll be ready,” Carter said. “One thing I learned when I got in this league is that yes, I’m athletic, but there’s gonna be a lot of guys up here that are athletic. What else do you bring to the table? I think he’s going through that phase, kind of what I went through. Everybody looks at ‘he can dunk, he can dunk,’ but now when you have guys that are super athletic, then they’re going to start saying, ‘What else can he do?'”"

Carter, whose 2000 NBA Dunk Contest championship is still revered as the greatest and most innovative in history, came into the league with a reputation similar to Williamson. Carter worked on his game, though, and became an extremely versatile and fundamentally sound player. And after two-plus decades in the league, Carter is seventh all-time in made three-pointers, one of just four active players to score 25,000 points, and a surefire Hall-of-Famer.

"“He’s super, super athletic,” Carter said. “He has an NBA body already. . . He has the potential to be, obviously, the No. 1 pick whenever he decides to come out,” Carter said. “I think that’s understood.”"

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