The Duke basketball team is going to be huge in 2024-25, and head coach Jon Scheyer explained that the size of the Blue Devils roster is no accident.
During a Monday episode of The Devil’s Den podcast, Scheyer said the team consciously targeted height to maximize the team’s athletic ability on defense.
“I want us to create more turnovers,” Scheyer said. “In order to be more aggressive like the teams that I’ve been a part of here, the more athletic you are, the more you’re able to do that because you can cover ground, (you have) the length to make up for it.”
“So that’s why we’ve gone bigger…and that’s my style for how I’ve been taught here under Coach (Mike Krzyzewski) but also how I want to play for us going forward.”
Scheyer also highlighted Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown, who averaged 2.2 steals per game last season as a 6-foot-8 forward, as someone he immediately targeted because of his ability to create chaos. [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag], two standout freshmen and presumed 2025 lottery picks, fit the same bill at 6-foot-9 and 7-foot-2, respectively.
Sophomore guard Caleb Foster, at 6-foot-5, will be the shortest player in the rotation next season. Check out every player on the 2024-25 roster ranked from tallest to shortest here.