2018 NBA Draft: Marvin Bagley III is dominating college basketball

Freshman Marvin Bagley III has been the best player in the country for the Duke Blue Devils and is the best prospect on the board for the 2018 NBA Draft.

When highly-ranked big man Marvin Bagley III reclassified to join the Duke Blue Devils for the 2017-18 season, he immediately put his name into consideration for the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Just a few weeks in, he is now blowing away the competition.

With Duke being a perennial contender, Bagley’s late commitment to the program secured yet another top recruiting class for the Blue Devils. Bagley joined senior Grayson Allen and a talented freshman group — Gary Trent Jr., Wendell Carter Jr. and Trevon Duval were all top recruits.

Through six games that combination of freshman plus senior sharpshooter has been unbeatable, with Duke sporting a perfect 8-0 record with wins over multiple ranked teams. Their most recent victory, a comeback 87-84 win Sunday night over Florida in the title game of the PK80 tournament, was yet again the stage for Marvin Bagley III to ball out.

The freshman center was unstoppable down the stretch for the Blue Devils, the key piece in a 15-2 run to come away with the win. He finished the night with 30 points and 15 rebounds against a Florida team that was on fire, dropping 111 and 108 points in its previous two games.

More from NBA Draft

• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Grading every NBA team’s highest draft pick in the last five years
• Meet Matas Buzelis, the NBA’s next great point-forward
• Predicting the top 5 rookies heading into the 2023–24 NBA season
• NBA Draft: Grading every first-round pick after rookie year

Bagley was a terror defensively, altering shots at the rim and comfortable switching out onto the perimeter. At times he even guarded Florida point guard Chris Chiozza, and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski had no problem letting the 6’11” Bagley defend in space.

On the offensive end, the Gators had no answer for Bagley, which has been a common theme for Duke opponents this season. Bagley went 10-for-20 Sunday night, including a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Equally impressive, Bagley went 9-for-10 from the line, his second consecutive game with nine made free throws.

Over the course of the young season Bagley has easily been one of the most impressive forces in college basketball, no qualifications needed. Although until a few months ago he was supposed to be playing high school basketball right now, he has been better than perhaps even his biggest supporters would have expected.

Take out the game against Michigan State where he left after 10 minutes due to an eye injury and never returned, and Bagley is averaging 24.8 points and 12 rebounds per game. His scoring totals would rank eighth in the nation (27th including the MSU game) and his rebounding sixth (12th overall).

The reason NBA scouts are so excited is that Bagley has not been feasting on inferior competition. Many teams at this point in the season have loaded up on smaller basketball programs to tune up, but Duke has embraced a tough schedule. They already have wins over Michigan State and Florida, two top-10 opponents.

Those tough games are where Bagley has shined the most. While he did leave early against the Spartans in the Champion’s Classic, he had already ripped down six boards in just 10 minutes.

Then in the final two games of the PK80 tournament, comeback wins over the Texas Longhorns and Florida Gators, Bagley was at his best. He averaged 32 points in each game, snagging 30 total rebounds and hitting 18 of his 23 free throw attempts. Far from simply a scorer, Bagley even showed off his passing vision down the stretch against Texas:

What separates Bagley from other star freshman in recent seasons is the level of talent around him. Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz, the last two first overall picks, each played for talent-starved programs that failed to make the NCAA tournament. Duke may lock its bid in by the end of December.

The high-profile Duke provides him will make sure every eye is on Bagley when he performs. It also provides a storied backdrop to provide context for just how unbelievable his performances are. Each time he sets a new school record, he does so by climbing over some of the best in the sport’s history.

In the win over Texas on Friday, Bagley tied J.J. Redick’s record for most points by a Duke freshman (34). The player to put up 34 and 15 for Coach K was Christian Laettner. Bagley followed that up with another huge performance against Florida, netting him another school record:

To put the above stat into more modern context, Bagley now has two 30-15 games this season. The rest of Division I has four such games combined. This phenomenal freshman is not just the best player in his class, but thus far he has been the best player in college basketball of any age.

There is still plenty of basketball to be played, but right now Bagley has to be in the driver’s seat for the top overall pick (all apologies to the incredible Luka Doncic). His domestic competition for that honor has wobbled to start the season.

Arizona and center DeAndre Ayton just lost three straight. Michael Porter Jr. is out for the season after playing just two minutes of college basketball. Mohamed Bamba not only lost to Bagley on Friday, but other than a highlight block was mostly invisible.

Teams will begin to adjust to Bagley and try to take him out of games, forcing Duke’s shaky perimeter shooters to hit shots. But Bagley is still growing — physically and from a skill standpoint — and his sheer athleticism and motor may form an unstoppable combination at the college level.

NBA scouts have to be stoked by what they are seeing, and the NBA’s worst teams may already be priming the tank machine to get a chance at taking Bagley. He would be an incredible fit alongside Lauri Markkanen in Chicago or John Collins in Atlanta, for example. His combination of size, talent and athleticism are unique even in an era of unique players.

Next: 2018 NBA Draft Big Board - Mid-November

With both the NCAA tournament and the NBA Draft still a long ways off, Bagley will need to prove he can sustain this level of excellence. But eight games in the ride has been a wild one, and no player in the country is dominating like Marvin Bagley III.