Players Like These Are The Back Bones Of A Team

And coaches love them too.

There ought to be an award, akin to Best Supporting Actor at the Emmys or Oscars, for those basketball players who focus singularly on tasks that undergird their teammates’ work. They do this often to the exclusion of any acclaim; few but professional coaches, evaluators and teammates notice what they do.

An argument can be made that this recognition should be given to someone with a handsome portion of assists to turnovers, a consistent valuer of the ball, a steady activator of opportunities for others. We wouldn’t protest, although being frequently entrusted with the ball gives a player an extra amount of both opportunity and visibility.

But when it comes to doing truly supportive work, laboring by the basket where elbows fly, skin is torn by fingernails, and bruises and the occasion broken bone are dispensed, nothing quite beats the housekeepers who clean up on the boards. They sacrifice to make the most of opportunities that fall within their grasp.

A great example was Duke’s Javin DeLaurier (430 career rebounds, 386 points).

As a senior back in 2020 DeLaurier was among 7 ACC players with more rebounds than points. So far this season, 10 league performers fit that profile and already have played at least 250 minutes – about 10 per game. Eight teams draw strength from such contributors, with Notre Dame and Pitt enjoying two focused rebounders each.

Prominent among the ACC’s corps of supportive rebounders is Duke grad student Ryan Young, previously of Northwestern. He, like Georgia Tech’s Tyzhaun Claude and Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Long, has added his weight (in his case, 235 pounds) to pushing the wheel uphill for his adopted team.

Young, both of whose parents played Olympic sports at Syracuse, is a solid frontcourt fill-in for more athletic Duke big men. A talkative team captain, Young has started the fewest games of the trio that includes Claude and Long, with 2 in 24 appearances in 2023-24.

True to his role, the 6-10 post player averages a modest 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 points. His turnovers more or less match his assists. He’s tried a single 3-pointer in two seasons and 59 games at Durham. Rarely spectacular, Young’s contributions, born of savvy and experience and seasoned application of muscle, tend to get lost on a stat sheet despite the vital part they play for his team.