With an incoming class of six freshmen coming in and more and more players across the country leaving school early, head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff made a change this offseason.
Four of the six players comprising Duke’s third straight top-ranked recruiting class—Jayson Tatum, Harry Giles, Frank Jackson and Javin DeLaurier—left high school early to enroll in the University’s first summer session and join the team early. Along with center Marques Bolden, who committed in late May and will arrive on campus this week, versatile forwards Tatum and Giles and combo guard Jackson are expected to make the Blue Devils one of the favorites to get to the Final Four next year despite losing ACC Freshman of the Year Brandon Ingram and point guard Derryck Thornton, who announced his decision to transfer in the spring but has yet to finalize a destination.
The extra time could prove valuable for the new Duke freshmen, who will join a veteran core featuring All-American guard Grayson Allen, senior guard Matt Jones and forward Amile Jefferson.
“It gives us a chance to get to know them better, train them better. You are allowed to do certain things with them now, and then they get accustomed to one another,” Krzyzewski said at his annual K Academy Fantasy Camp last week. “By the time the school year comes, they’re friends, they’re acclimated [and] they’re better.”
Having several incoming freshmen on campus earlier is part of a busy offseason for the 69-year old head coach that featured knee replacement surgery and inguinal hernia surgery. Krzyzewski said he has felt younger and healthier after the procedures, adding that he has no plans for retirement in the future.
“He’s attacked his rehab like crazy, so for our guys, he’s set a pretty good example for what you need to do if you have an injury,” assistant coach Jon Scheyer said. “He looks great. You would never think he would have just had two surgeries back to back.”
After leading K Academy, Krzyzewski and associate head coach Jeff Capel will leave to prepare for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro July 16 and will likely be gone for more than a month, with the gold medal game scheduled for Aug. 21.
Although his entire team will be together on campus for the second summer session, when incoming freshmen traditionally came to campus, starting July 5—except potentially DeLaurier, who has a chance to compete in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship—Krzyzewski said he was not worried given the number of upperclassmen returning as well as sophomores Luke Kennard and Chase Jeter. Assistant coaches Jon Scheyer and Nate James will lead the team while Krzyzewski and Capel are with Team USA.
Among the players who could follow Krzyzewski’s example for attacking rehab this summer are Giles and Jefferson, who are both recovering from serious injuries and will be key pieces for Duke in the paint next year.
After averaging 11.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game in the first nine games last year, Jefferson fractured his right foot in practice and missed the rest of his senior season. The Philadelphia native received a medical hardship waiver that granted him another year of eligibility.
Giles’ health will be one of the question marks for the Blue Devils as the season approaches. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native was the top-ranked player in the Class of 2016 by ESPN but missed most of his senior season after partially tearing his right ACL. The injury came after the explosive forward tore the ACL, MCL and meniscus in his left knee in 2013.
“We’re not trying to jump ahead. There’s no set timetable or anything like that,” Scheyer said. “Our main thing is to get him back stronger and healthier as fast as possible. In a month, we’ll evaluate it and a month later, then go from there.”
As Giles and Jefferson return to full strength, Krzyzewski and company will have to figure out how to balance one of their deepest teams in recent memory.
Unlike last year, when Allen and Ingram combined for almost 40 points per game and were the primary playmakers, this year’s team will have capable scorers and creators all over the court and coming off the bench.
But just like a season ago, the team’s point guard situation will be a question mark, with Allen, Jackson and Jones all capable of handling the ball but none of them being a traditional point guard.
As he did when Scheyer, special assistant Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler led Duke to its fourth national championship in 2010, Krzyzewski hopes to find the right recipe without a true point guard and evaluate his team’s strategies as players begin to separate themselves.
“There’s chemistry danger on every team, there’s also chemistry opportunity. On any team, there will be one, two or three who are better,” Krzyzewski said. “You have to figure out a system which will engage those guys and build around them. It’s not an equal amount of minutes or anything like that, it’s what you need to do to win.”
Allen will likely be one of the biggest beneficiaries from having prolific scorers around him after shouldering the load for much of last season. The Jacksonville, Fla., native posted the biggest increase in points per game from a freshman to a sophomore season in ACC history a year ago, but will likely be able to showcase more of an all-around game as a junior after deciding not to test the NBA Draft waters.
“Grayson doesn’t need to carry the load [this year]. I think he’d be the first to tell you there were other areas of his game that fell off a little bit because there was such a burden on him to score and create for us [last year],” Scheyer said. “I think you’ll see him be much sharper on the defensive end, on the ball, off the ball, creating for others and a little bit better as a decision-maker. He had an incredible season last year, but having more help offensively will be a big help for him specifically.”
Sky-high expectations are nothing new for Krzyzewski, who after trying to become the first head coach ever to win three consecutive gold medals will attempt to keep his team in the group of contenders it is often in months before the season tips off.
“Do we believe that we’ll be in there? We do,” Krzyzewski said. “We believed that last year even after Amile got hurt. That’s what we’re supposed to believe.”
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