In the locker room after the Duke-North Carolina game Feb. 9, DeMarcus Nelson told a reporter that he didn’t really see himself as a freshman—that he just saw himself as a player. Daniel Ewing, who overheard what Nelson had said, thought it’d be a good time to interject.
“Yeah, you’re still a freshman,” Ewing said with a sarcastic laugh from his locker.
The senior captain knows what it’s like to be one of the youngest players fielding questions from the media. After the UNC game, Ewing talked at length about how excited he was for Nelson and how he knows what it’s like to be the only active freshman in a regular rotation.
“I’m probably more happy about it than he is,” Ewing said of Nelson’s performance.
As the lone scholarship freshman to join the 2001 National Championship Blue Devils, Ewing looked up to the the likes of Jay Williams and Chris Duhon. Now, as a senior, he’s the one with the added wisdom from his earlier experiences on the team.
Frustration may have been a new feeling for Nelson, who was showered with accolades before coming to Duke. The California native holds his state’s high school record with 3,462 points. He led the West team with 22 points in the 2004 McDonald’s All-America game and averaged more than 30 points per game for three straight years in high school. But that was high school.
After coping with a thumb injury for the early part of the season, Nelson said he is finally beginning to feel more comfortable and more confident, although he didn’t expect the injury’s effects to last so long. Even after the Feb. 5 game against Georgia Tech—a game in which he went 1-for-4 from the free-throw line—Nelson mentioned his shooting was still not feeling up to par because of his thumb.
“Coming off an injury, you might be 100 percent, but there’s still a psychological and mental thing that plays into it, too,” Nelson said. “That’s something that I took a while to get over, but hopefully I’m over it.”
Nelson joined last year’s Final Four Duke squad as one of two freshmen. Now that David McClure is sidelined with a knee injury, Nelson is by far the youngest Blue Devil seeing significant minutes on the court.
In his first season, Nelson is averaging 7.1 points and 19.6 minutes per game. He admitted that he struggled to find his touch at first but said it’s slowly coming back. Although Nelson is not posting double-digits in every game, he has shown promise at moments, hitting a career-high 17 points against Valparaiso in December and giving the Blue Devils the extra boost they needed with 16 against North Carolina.
“He really played great tonight,” Ewing said after the UNC game. “It really shows what kind of player he can become, especially playing in this type of atmosphere and in this game.”
The praise, however, doesn’t run just one way. Nelson describes Ewing as “a real good person—a great leader.” He also emphasized the support system Ewing and the rest of the team have created.
Even with all his experience and wisdom, Ewing isn’t about to spoil some of the fun for the younger players. When asked if he gives Nelson advice on fielding reporters’ questions, Ewing chuckled:
“No, I’ll let him learn on his own.”
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