Photo courtesy of Dave’s Joint.
By David Cordova
The date is Dec. 20th and it’s only five days before Christmas in New York City. The college basketball season is already in full swing. The main attraction on this night is the SentinelOne Classic at the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden, in Midtown Manhattan. The two teams on the menu are two highly-ranked teams in the Associated Press national poll. Duke, the No. 21 team in the national poll, is going up against the No. 10 team, Baylor.
This matchup has all of the fanfare and all of the hype. Both teams have some marquee players on their teams, a couple of them former McDonald’s All-Americans in their respective classes. All of them are playing at a high level on this court.
One player in particular is showing plenty of poise and skill on the court. The player in question is none other than Kyle “Flip” Filipowski, a 7-foot sophomore forward who may be one of the most skilled players at his position. He’s strong, agile and moves very well. He has plenty of finesse in his game, as he learned at a young age coming from a basketball family.
Both of his parents were standouts in their own right. His mother, Rebecca, a standout at Warwick Valley High School in Orange County and won three state championships and scored over 2,000 career points and was a 1982 Parade All-American selection. She then went on to play collegiate basketball. She would also play Division I basketball at Long Beach State in the mid-1980’s.
His father, David, also played collegiate basketball at Slippery Rock University, where he graduated in 1981.
A native of Westtown, New York, which is in Orange County, which is close to 70 miles from New York City, he is a player that made a name for himself as a solid player, and was a part of a duo that included his twin brother, Matthew, who now plays at Harvard.
Both started playing high school basketball at Minisink Valley High School as freshmen and then went on to play at Fordham Preparatory School in The Bronx as sophomores, and led the program to the CHSAA “A” championship in 2019. During that season, Kyle reached the 1,000-point milestone.
After that, the twins went on to play three seasons at Wilbraham & Manson Academy, a private, preparatory school in Wilbraham, Mass., which is part of a prestigious league called the NEPSAC (New England Preparatory Schools Athletic Conference). During his time at Wilbraham & Monson, he piled up plenty of accomplishments, such as the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Massachusetts as a junior in the 2020-21 season and also made the first team of the 2022 Naismith High School Boys All-American team. As a senior at Wilbraham & Monson in the 2021-22 season, he averaged 19.1 points & 10.8 rebounds per game. He would also finish high school rated as the No. 10 overall player in the Class of 2022 by ESPN and the second-best center behind his future college teammate, Dereck Lively, who is currently in his rookie season in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks.
During his time in prep school, Kyle garnered plenty of offers from high-major schools, due to his play in the NEPSAC and on the Nike EYBL circuit during the grassroots season with the New York Rens program, whom he led to the Nike Peach Jam semifinals in the summer of 2021. Due to his outstanding play during that summer, he earned plenty of high-major offers from big-time schools. But on July 29th of that summer, he would make that commitment to play for one of college basketball’s most prestigious programs, the Duke Blue Devils.
As a freshman last season, Filipowski did plenty and held his own on the floor, as he averaged 15.1 points & 8.9 rebounds per game and was an All-ACC second-team selection, and also awards, such as the Kyle Macy Freshman of the Year, the ACC Rookie of the Year and the MVP of the ACC Tournament, after which the Blue Devils emerged victorious after beating Virginia. The Blue Devils would go on to play in the NCAA Tournament, where they lost in the second round to Tennessee, but finished at No. 12 in the Associated Press national poll and had a 27-9 record.
After a productive season in which he had 16 double-doubles, which was a leading stat amongst all freshman on the Division I scene nationally, many figured him headed to the NBA. However, he decided to remain at Duke and came back for his sophomore season.
This season, Filipowski has been a force on the floor for the Blue Devils, as he’s averaging 18.2 points, 8.9 rebounds per game and three assists per game. During the game at the Garden against Baylor, he had 13 points & 10 rebounds in the Blue Devils’ 78-70 win. That game would be his 20th career double-double as a collegiate player. A week later, on Dec. 30th against Queens University at Cameron Indoor Stadium, he had 19 points, five blocks and four rebounds in the 106-69 victory.
So far, during ACC play, he has been on a tear, as he averaged 28 points & 11.5 rebounds in two wins against foes such as Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech. In the latter game, which was played on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium, he had 30 points & 13 rebounds in a close 84-79 win.
With his ability to shoot from long range and also throw down dunks with power, it is a given that he is definitely an asset to the Blue Devils. At the present time, he is projected to be a top-15 player in the upcoming NBA Draft in June. If he continues to play how he is currently playing now, the sky is the limit for the guy that many call, “Flip.”
For now, his goals are to help lead the Blue Devils even further than their second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, the plan is to compete for a national championship in Phoenix, Arizona in April. With him in the lineup, that looks to be a given.
davesjoint.net 