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Marvin Bagley III’s Journey Reaches Sactown

“He wants to learn, he has no demons, he's a great kid, he's smart, and has an incredible motor,” said Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski. “He never has a bad day. He's a treasure, really. He's going to be one of the great players in the NBA during his time."

Coach K has seen NBA-level talent at Duke for decades. Most recently, with Jayson Tatum, Brandon Ingram and Kyrie Irving to name a few.

Marvin Bagley III was the class of 2017’s highest ranked high school recruit, hailing from Sierra Canyon, above the likes of Deandre Ayton, Michael Porter, Mohamed Bamba among others.

"He reminds me a little bit of Tim Duncan in being so mature with the ball," said NBA Hall of Famer David Robinson, whose son played at Duke with Bagley III. “"He's got the same composure as a young Tim. I saw Tim in college at Wake [Forest], and he was phenomenal in terms of being patient. He never got rattled, and that's Bagley. He's the same way. Fantastic kid."

The 6-11, 230-pound forward finished his lone season at Duke averaging 21 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists on this 61 percent shooting. The consensus First Team All-American was one of three players in ACC history to to lead the league in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage, joining Horace Grant and Tim Duncan.

"He's the most unique player we've had here at Duke during my 38 years," Coach K continued. "He has everything. In some respects, Kyrie [Irving] was like that. But Kyrie got hurt after eight games."

The newest Kings player visited Sacramento during the pre-Draft workout process and had nothing but positive words to say about the organization, the city and his future.

“I love it here, just being around all the people I’ve seen so far and met so far, just walking around the city, it’s a cool environment to be in,” Bagley III said during his visit. “Not only that, on the court, I feel like it’s a place where I can definitely focus, lock in and get better. And that’s the main goal for me, to continue to grow as a player and get better.”