The Duke Chronicle Profiles Khaman Maluach
We’ll be talking about him for a long time.
In the last few seasons, Duke has had three of the best big men it has had in years. And by big men, we mean really big. We’re not counting players like Elton Brand, who was wonderful but only 6-9.
Mark Williams and Dereck Lively were both 7-1 and this year’s big, Khaman Maluach, is 7-2, which ties Marty Nessley for Duke’s tallest player ever.
Maluach, who is the subject of the latest Duke Chronicle player profile, had a wonderful season.
He came to Durham as a very new player, having only taken up the game when he was a 13-year-old Sudanese refugee in Uganda. He did play for the South Sudanese team in the Olympics last summer, and held his own, but he wasn’t yet a well-rounded player.
He’s still not, but he grew incredibly fast this year. From the Chronicle, quoting Jon Scheyer: “To find a 7-foot-2 guy that has the motor that he has ... He can guard one through five. I think he’s shown that now with his switching while still protecting the rim. I think his rebounding has really progressed, and I think his offensive stuff is going to keep getting better.”
In the end, the most impressive thing about Maluach’s season is just how fast he improved. He came to the game late, he has only played in the US for about a year and he just keeps getting better.
He’s become one of our favorite Duke players of all time.