Femi Odukale has started to really blossom in recent games for Pitt. The 6’5” freshman guard out of Brooklyn is coming off an 8-assist game against Syracuse, a career-high in that department.

Odukale’s play has really started to pick up as the competition has increased on the schedule. In Pitt’s five non-conference games Odukale totaled just 9 points, but in Pitt’s four ACC games he is averaging 8.7 points per game.

Pitt head coach Jeff Capel has talked numerous times this season about how the learning curve for freshmen is really different this season. There was less time than usual for freshmen to get acclimated to the college basketball life, and across the country we’ve seen younger team struggle because of it.

Odukale, however, has been embracing the ability to learn on the fly and the results are showing up on the court.

“I would say the main thing is that he’s learned how to work, that’s been one of the biggest changes,” Capel said of his freshman guard. "He doesn’t look at it now that extra work is punishment.”

The Brooklyn native has relished the extra practice time and the grind to get better. His minutes are up and he is carving out an important role at a young age.

“Each practice and each day I just try to go hard, because I know I’m more comfortable than I was before in the summertime,” he said. “I’m just trying to take it day by day and just get better.”

Pitt is set to take on Duke this evening in one of the biggest games at the Petersen Events Center in recent memory. The Blue Devils are not a top-25 team at the moment, but the program carries a certain weight in the college basketball world.

“I’m actually excited,” Odukale said of facing Duke. “This is one of my dream games. I always wanted to play against Duke. I never really wanted to be a part of it, I just wanted to go against them and I just can’t wait.”

Duke features a talented freshman backcourt tandem. Jeremy Roach and D.J. Steward are both in the starting lineup as freshmen, and both were five-star recruits according to Rivals.com.

Odukale was graded as a three-star and just snuck into the Top-150 rankings at No. 148 nationally. He said he isn’t too familiar with the Duke players, and he’s looking at this game as an opportunity to prove himself.

“I wasn’t like a high recruit,” Odukale said. “So I’m just going to take advantage of this game.”