Marvin Bagley III should still be in high school right now. Bagley spent his entire prep career as the top-ranked recruit in the class of 2018 before making a last minute decision to reclassify up a grade when he committed to Duke in August.
Duke freshman Marvin Bagley III is already the most dominant player in college basketball
The Duke freshman went on a tear at the PK80 this weekend.
Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Only eight games into his college career, it’s already evident that Bagley is one of the best players in the country.
Duke won the Victory Bracket at the PK80 in Portland this weekend behind a pair of brilliant performances from Bagley. He dropped 34 points and 15 rebounds against Texas and fellow top freshman Mohamed Bamba on Friday as Duke rallied from a 16-point second half deficit to beat the Longhorns. He followed it up with 30 points and 15 rebounds against Florida in the championship game.
No Duke player has ever matched that level of production in back-to-back games:
Bagley’s combination of athleticism, agility, scoring touch and aggression has made him an unstoppable force so far. This is what’s making him special.
Bagley’s scoring touch around the rim is remarkable
The hallmark of Bagley’s early production has been his dominance scoring inside. He’s taking 52 percent of his shots at the rim so far, and he’s making 78.7 percent of them, per Hoop-Math.
Bagley has scored on a variety of lefty hook shots, runners and dunks. When he establishes position, he’s become automatic on the block.
This is an impressive seal against Bamba, and the quick finish is just as good:
If Bamba and his 7’9 wingspan couldn’t contain Bagley, there simply won’t be many college big men who have a prayer of stopping him inside.
He’s an elite rebounder on both ends of the floor
Bagley doesn’t wait for the ball to find him as a rebounder. He can grab the ball at rim-level, he’s tough to box out and he’s incredibly quick off the floor.
Florida had two players in position to grab this board but Bagley still beat them for it.
He’s been tenacious on the offensive glass as well. He’s able to jump twice faster than most players are able to jump once:
Bagley has hit double-digit rebounds in six of his eight games so far. It looks like that’s something Duke will be able to count on all season.
His agility allows him to make plays all over the court
This might be Bagley’s most impressive sequence of the year so far. He sticks with Florida guard Chris Chiozza (a great offensive player) on the perimeter before swatting his shot, then runs down the court, and finishes with a Eurostep layup:
The skill aspect of Bagley’s game is obviously still developing. He’s only made 4-of-13 attempts from three-point range and he’s shooting just 61 percent from the foul line. That makes the fact that he’s still arguably the most dominant player in college basketball right now even more impressive.
Duke didn’t know it would have Bagley until just days before the school year began, but they’ve already made him the focal point of the team. After seeing the tear he went on this weekend against great competition at the PK80, you can expect Bagley to be one of the most productive players in the country all season long.
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