On a team full of stars and shooters, Mark Mitchell is Duke’s most indispensable player
It took almost a year for Mark Mitchell to go back and re-watch a game he didn’t even play. It was that hard.
Mitchell missed Duke’s second-round loss to Tennessee last March with a knee injury, and without the versatile 6-foot-9 forward, the Blue Devils were bullied right out of the NCAA tournament. That loss, and his absence from it, simmered for months.
And then, before Duke’s second-round game against James Madison, a team that made noise about doing the same thing to the Blue Devils, Mitchell finally pulled up the video.
“I was hurt that game and it was really tough for me,” Mitchell said Thursday. “I had a first-row seat to see it. I just never got around to it until last week. I just watched from the point of not wanting to go out that way, no matter what happens. They outtoughed us, outplayed us, more physical the whole time. I knew going against JMU, they were going to be tough, and I wanted to make sure we brought the fight and not let them dictate the game early.”
It doesn’t get any easier for Duke against top-seeded Houston on Friday, as tough and defensively sound a team as there is in the country, which puts even more pressure on Mitchell in particular to do what he does. On a team full of unique and extraordinarily talented players, there’s nobody quite like Mitchell. He may not be Duke’s best player. But he’s almost certainly Duke’s most indispensable.
His absence in that loss to Tennessee was palpable, as it was against Pittsburgh in Cameron in January, when Mitchell’s length and athleticism is exactly what Duke needed to guard Blake Hinson. No one else was up to the job.
“He’s one of the most underrated and most versatile players in the country,” Duke assistant coach Chris Carrawell said. “What was the difference between the two PItt games? Mark plays the first game, we win by a lot. Mark doesn’t play the second game, we lose and they’re talking trash to the Cameron Crazies. It’s crazy. That just lets you know how important a player he is.”
Carrawell sees a kindred spirit in Mitchell, the hybrid forward who’s often left doing the dirty work at both ends, the unselfish role player among shooters and drivers and bigger stars. That’s in part because he’s Duke’s best athlete, with his hops and long arms and explosive burst. And it’s in part because he’s got the mentality for it. And it’s in part because he’s a threat in his own right, especially in transition, where he can run the floor and dunk from just about anywhere.
Put those three together, and he becomes a weapon. Take it away, and there’s a hole Duke can’t fill.
All of which makes him, essentially, irreplaceable. With Kyle Filipowski often roaming out to the perimeter, and Ryan Young really the only post player off the bench even as Sean Stewart has carved out more of a role later, Duke doesn’t have a lot of other pieces that can do what Mitchell does. It really doesn’t have any.
“When he runs the lane, he’s as athletic as any guy out there and he’s able to put a lot of pressure on the rim at all times,” Young said. “He’s an incredible cutter, and it always puts pressure on defenses when he’s able to get the ball and jump from anywhere on the floor and play above the rim. When he’s not out there, you can feel his presence is lost, in terms of protecting the rim, skying for rebounds and running the floor like he can.”
That’s going to be especially apparent against Houston, which isn’t an overly big team but has two Mitchell-type players in J’Wan Roberts and Ja’Vier Francis —athletic forwards who aren’t big scorers but are elite defenders and rebounders and complement Houston’s explosive backcourt.
There’s a reason Duke is 33-4 when Mitchell hits double digits (and 19-11 when he doesn’t): If he’s in position to score 10 points, Duke’s probably dominating the boards and penetrating the lane, both things the Blue Devils can control no matter how well they’re shooting from long range.
It also means Mitchell is fully engaged, something Duke will need against Houston, as physical, athletic and swarming a defensive team as there is in the country. Mitchell’s nickname is “Easy,” but this is going to be hard, right off the hop.
“He’s easy, easy like Sunday morning,” Carrawell said. “He’s so laid back, he’s so unselfish, sometimes you want him to go show who you really are. Play outside yourself. Get emotional.”
Perhaps Mitchell’s willingness to go back and watch the Tennessee loss is his embrace of that emotion, finding comfort in the uncomfortable. He only had two points and five rebounds against James Madison and Duke won anyway. Friday will be different.
Perhaps more than at any point in his time at Duke, he will truly be indispensable.
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This story was originally published March 28, 2024 at 4:31 PM with the headline "On a team full of stars and shooters, Mark Mitchell is Duke’s most indispensable player."
