As a freshman, Duke’s Kyle Filipowski showed he was ready to continue the line of talented Blue Devils linebackers. He won the ACC Rookie of the Year award and led the team in points (15.1) and rebounds (9.0). Heading into his second year, he’s embracing another long-standing Duke tradition — the “villain” role for opposing fans.
Whether it’s Christian Laettner, JJ Reddick, or Grayson Allen, longtime Duke basketball stars have shown a penchant for garnering negative reactions from rival fanbases. In an interview on Brotherhood podcastFilipowski noted that he was cut from the same cloth as other famous Blue Devils opponents.
“I experienced some (hate) last year, just hearing a lot of bad talk about me,” said Filipowski. “That’s what happens when you’re a really good player playing with a really good team. … I use it as fuel for the fire. It makes me laugh because I’m like, ‘You guys are talking… to me while you’re watching me play.'” You spend your money to watch me kick your ass. It’s very interesting to me.”
The late Blue Devils helped them capture the ACC Championship before losing to Tennessee in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament last year. instead of going through NBA Draft In the process, Filipowski opted to return to Duke for his sophomore campaign.
His return helped fuel the buzz around what is expected to be one of the best teams in the country. In the last 25-and-1 on CBS Sports, Gary Parish got the Blue Devils into third. In addition to Filipovski, Duke brought back Jeremy Roach, Therese Proctor and Mark Mitchell. Duke is ranked #2 in the 2023 recruiting class coming to campus this season. This class includes Jared McCain, Sean Stewart, Caleb Foster, and TJ Bauer.