DJ Steward Wins Player of Year Awards

On the day Duke faced the prospect of life without point guard Tre Jones, an incoming guard picked up an honor.

DJ Steward was named the Illinois Player of the Year by the website Prep Hoops. The 5-star combination guard signed with Duke in November and will arrive as an incoming freshman for next season. He and five-star point guard Jeremy Roach will be expected to make up Duke’s backcourt, which lost Jones, who declared for the NBA Draft on Saturday.

The 6-foot-3, 165-pound Steward is the No. 24 player in the class, according to 247Sports. He’s the No. 5 combination guard and the top prospect in the state of Illinois.

Steward also won player of the year from the Chicago Sun Times earlier this month, joining a history of winners that includes Hall of Famer Isaiah Thomas, Kevin Garnett, Derrick Rose, Cazzie Russell, Quinn Buckner, Doc Rivers, Hersey Hawkins. Former Blue Devils Chris Collins (1992), Sean Dockery (2002), Jon Scheyer (2006), Jabari Parker (2012) and Jahlil Okafor (2013) are also previous winners.

Scheyer was one of the Duke assistant coaches involved in recruiting Steward, who chose Duke over DePaul, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, Louisville, North Carolina and Texas

Steward averaged 22.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists for Whitney Young this past season. He was selected for the McDonald’s High School All-American Game, the Iverson Classic and the Jordan Brand Classic. The McDonald’s and Jordan games have been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak. There’s been no word on the status of the Iverson game, scheduled for late April.