Duke’s Michael Savarino, Grandson of Coach K, Earns NCAA Elite 90 Award

The Duke junior is the first men’s basketball player from the school to win the award.

Duke junior basketball player Michael Savarino was presented with the NCAA’s Elite 90 Award for men’s basketball on Friday.

“It means the world…”@DukeMBB junior Michael Savarino shares his thoughts on winning the #Elite90 award. pic.twitter.com/BNSvkreU7m

— NCAA (@NCAA) April 1, 2022

This award is given to the Division I athlete who has the highest grade point average out of all the teams competing at the finals site for each of the 90 NCAA championships. This means the award is given to athletes who have reached a major height of their academic and athletic success in a season.

Duke is competing in the Final Four for men’s basketball on Saturday against their all-time rival UNC. The award was given to Savarino during the Blue Devils’ open practice on Friday afternoon in New Orleans at the Caesars Superdome.

Savarino, who is coach Mike Krzyzewski’s grandson, has a cumulative 3.828 GPA in his third year at Duke. He is studying sociology.

“It means a lot, I spend a lot of time in the gym, but I spend more time in the books, so I guess that shows,” Savarino said. “It just shows that Duke basketball is more about school than it is about basketball. Especially it being coach’s last year, family ties is all I got to say.”

Savarino is the first Duke basketball player to win the Elite 90 Award since it was first given out in the 2009–10 season.

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