Duke freshman center Marques Bolden will return for his sophomore season, the school announced Monday. Bolden was rumored to be considering a transfer from the school.
“Despite rumors about my future that have circulated in recent days, I’m excited to announce that I’ll be returning to Duke for my sophomore year,” Bolden said in a statement. “I have unbelievable support from my family, teammates and coaches. I’m ready to get to work for next season and I’m excited for what should be a great year for our program.”
The 6-foot-11 Bolden, a former five-star recruit, played in 24 games as a freshman. But he struggled to find consistent playing time in the Duke rotation, averaging just 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 6.5 minutes of action per game.
When Bolden and another five star recruit, Harry Giles, signed with Duke, it immediately boosted the expectations for the team. Duke earned a preseason No. 1 ranking largely because of the projected impact its two big men would have. But Bolden and Giles under-achieved relative to what the public expected.
Now Bolden will get a chance to make a bigger impact in year two under Mike Krzyzewski.
“We’re thrilled that Marques will continue to be part of our program,” Krzyzewski said. “In addition to being a talented basketball player, he’s an outstanding young man from a great family. It’s unfortunate that his freshman season was impacted by injury, but he has an opportunity to have a great summer and a special sophomore season.”
