It seems Jalen Johnson’s time as a Blue Devil is over.
The star freshman, who this season as the no. 13 recruiter has started in the country, picking out the rest of the 2020-21 season, according to a release from the team Monday night.
“I appreciate everything about my time at Duke,” Johnson said in the release. ‘Coach K, my teammates and the program have supported nothing but this season, especially not during the recovery from my foot injury. My family, Coach and I have decided that I should not play the rest of this season so that I can be 100 percent healthy in preparation for the NBA draft. It was not easy, but we feel it is best for my future. I have nothing but love for the Brotherhood and thank my teammates and everyone associated with the program. Duke will always have a special place in my heart and will always be a part of me. ‘
The news was first reported by Jacob Polacheck of ZAGSBLOG a little over an hour before the official release.
Johnson missed a little over a month with a foot injury announced in mid-December, but returned on January 12 against Virginia Tech and has appeared in every game since.
“Although we are medically encouraged for Jalen’s future, we believe this decision is in his best interest,” said head coach Mike Krzyzewski. ‘We are ultimately careful with each of our players and will continue to support Jalen as he progresses towards his goal of playing professional basketball. He deserves to be fully healthy for the upcoming NBA draft. ”
Despite the high expectations that came into the season, Johnson was disappointed during his short stay in Durham, with just 11.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 13 games.
He had moments that showed why at one point he was a top-five recruiter in the country and could still be a lottery in the 2021 NBA draft, including a 24-point, 16-rebound, seven-aid show in Pittsburgh Jan. 19 as well as his impressive debut with 19 points and 19 rebounds against Coppin State.
But the Milwaukee native was largely absent from the Blue Devils turn in recent games, scoring just 23 points in 23 minutes over Duke’s last two games against Notre Dame and NC.
While Johnson and Krzyzewski indicated that the opt-out was due to the foot injury of the former, not everyone seems completely convinced.
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Good Jeff Stadium tweeted Monday night that “there were out-of-court issues between Jalen Johnson / his camp and Duke dating early in the season,” building on some of his earlier-season reports.
“You’re watching Duke, and they need Jalen Johnson back and they need a fiancé Jalen Johnson, not just Jalen Johnson,” Goodman said in early January on ACC Network’s Packer and Durham, while Johnson was still busy to recover from a foot injury that sidelined him. between mid-December and mid-January. “They need him bought in. And I know there’s that foot injury and stuff like that, but there’s some other things going on behind the scenes, guys, with Jalen Johnson and the coaching staff. He must therefore come back and be bought in. ‘
Duke tackles Wake Forest Wednesday night in Winston-Salem, NC.