College
Zoubek started his Duke career with two double figure scoring games, against UNC Greensboro and Columbia.
In the summer of 2007 he broke the fifth metatarsal in his left foot in a pickup game. After surgery, he was on crutches until early fall 2007, and then in a carbon cast inside a boot with a steel shank. In January 2008, he broke his left foot again, this time in practice. Doctors realized his foot had not healed, and in the off-season he again had surgery, followed by crutches, the boot, and rehab.
Zoubek recorded his first double double with 11 points and 13 rebounds against St. John's on February 24, 2008. A fan favorite at Duke, he was often showered with chants of "Zooooouuu" from the Cameron Crazies after grabbing a rebound or scoring.
- 2009–10
The team's rebounding and defense improved with him in the lineup in 2009–10. In February 2010, he had a career-high 17 rebounds in his first career start against Maryland, cementing his spot in the starting lineup. He was a key supporting player of the team, and was 7th in the ACC with 7.7 rebounds per game (and 2nd on the offensive boards, with 3.5 rebounds per game). Per 40 minutes of play, he averaged 16.8 rebounds. Zoubek led the NCAA in pace-adjusted offensive rebounding at 7.8 per 40 minutes for the season and is second in this category for the past decade - only DeJuan Blair of Pittsburgh has put up better numbers. He ended his career 4th on Duke's all-time list in offensive rebounds (276), and in his senior year set the school's single-season record of 145. He was also named to the All-ACC academic team.
Explaining his resurgence after suffering through foot injuries his sophomore and junior years, he said:
It's a process. A lot of days in the gym, a lot of sweat, a lot of hatred toward for all the stuff he put me through . But it was all worth it. It's hard to see the future in all the work you put in. How's it going to help you, and is it worth it? It is. This really proves that.
Teammate Jon Scheyer said: "He's a player you love to play with and you hate to play against. He's just really physical. He's such a big body. Even if he doesn't mean to, you run into him. And you really feel it."
Read more about this topic: Brian Zoubek
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