Tag: Jared McCain

Sophomore guard Jaden Schutt intends to transfer from Duke

Redshirt sophomore Jaden Schutt becomes the third Duke player to enter transfer portal.

Following a trend of Duke players who were in reserve roles or didn’t play at all, sophomore Jaden Schutt has announced his decision to enter the transfer portal and find a new school to play for.

On3’s Joe Tipton first reported the news on Monday afternoon.

Schutt becomes another member of Jon Scheyer’s first recruiting class to enter the portal after Mark Mitchell and Christian Reeves also announced they would leave the program.

Schutt, a former four-star recruit from Jon Scheyer’s home state of Illinois and part of Scheyer’s inaugural seven-deep recruiting class in 2022, saw limited action for the Blue Devils in his time.

This past season was supposed to be a breakthrough moment for the esteemed sharpshooter, but injuries again derailed him. After Duke’s opening game this season, Scheyer confirmed that Schutt would redshirt and sit out the rest of the year.

With Schutt entering the transfer portal, Duke will have yet another scholarship available to try and fill via the transfer portal. With Jared McCain headed to the NBA draft, Duke will be in the portal for a veteran sharpshooter.

Jared McCain finishes with the eighth-most points in March Madness

McCain, who had two 30-point games during Duke’s run to the Elite Eight, scored 84 points during the NCAA Tournament, the eighth-most of any player.

Duke freshman star Jared McCain didn’t get to the Final Four in his first season as a Blue Devil, but he did finish as one of the NCAA Tournament’s most prolific scorers.

McCain scored 84 points in Duke’s four games, the eighth-most of any player in the men’s tournament.

The first-year star scored at least 30 points twice during the four-game run to the Elite Eight, including a 30-point performance against James Madison in the second round and a 32-point game against NC State.

Among the ten players who scored at least 80 points in the tournament, McCain was one of just three who didn’t reach the Final Four. His 21.0 point average per game is one of the highest in the men’s field.

No one touched Purdue star Zach Edey, who scored 37 points in a national title game loss to Connecticut. Edey finished with 177 points over the course of the tournament, 56 more than any other player.

ESPN lists Duke as the No. 1 team in their Way-Too-Early Top 25

Duke the top team in the country in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25.

Less than 48 hours after Dan Hurley’s Connecticut Huskies completed one of the rare college basketball feats of repeating as national champions, the page has already turned to 2024-25 for the rest of the college basketball world.

ESPN made sure to get its Way-Too-Early Top 25 up late on Monday night, and the number one team in those rankings resides in Durham, NC.

Duke bowed out of the NCAA Tournament this season in the Elite Eight to an NC State team that spent the last 12 games playing incredibly inspired basketball. Duke led in the first half, but State overwhelmed Duke with incredible shotmaking and suffocating defense in the second half to send the Blue Devils home.

Duke is now in the process of reflecting and retooling for next year. There’s a renewed energy around the program as Scheyer will welcome the nation’s top recruiting class, highlighted by one of the most heralded number one high school basketball players since LeBron James, forward Cooper Flagg.

ESPN staff writer Jeff Borzello, who put the rankings together, said this about his decision to put the Blue Devils at the top spot.

“Duke entered this past season as a national title contender, but never quite seemed to put it all together for an extended stretch and ultimately fell in the Elite Eight. Jon Scheyer will have two of the best NBA prospects in the country next season, in No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg and projected top-five NBA draft pick Khaman Maluach, but the Blue Devils could have point guard issues if Jeremy Roach decides not to take advantage of his fifth option year.”

Borzello also published a projected starting five that featured Flagg, Tyrese Proctor, Caleb Foster, Mark Mitchell, and Maluach. The issue is that Mitchell announced his intent to enter the transfer portal on Tuesday afternoon, so he will not be on the 2024-25 version of the Duke Blue Devils. Duke will likely opt to find a shooter to help space the floor with Flagg and also give those minutes vacated by Mitchell to rising sophomore Sean Stewart should he opt to return.

Tyrese Proctor has not announced whether he plans to enter the portal, opt for professional opportunities, or return to Duke. If we assume Proctor returns, he’s likely a captain and must leap like Wendell Moore. There’s a lot of talent there, but it needs to become consistent. A decision from Jeremy Roach also remains up in the air, and having a fifth-year senior could be massive.

All that aside, Duke plans to utilize the transfer portal, too, so Duke’s roster construction for next year is far from done, with more names expected on their way out, i.e., Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain, expected to be drafted in the first round.

Jared McCain ties Zion Williamson’s Duke freshman record for points in an NCAA Tournament game

Jared McCain scored 32 points against the Wolfpack on Sunday, tying Zion Williamson’s freshman record for points in an NCAA Tournament game.

Duke may not have gotten the result Blue Devils fans wanted against NC State in the Elite Eight, but freshman Jared McCain had a game to remember.

The first-year guard scored 32 points, exactly half of Duke’s points against the Wolfpack. He finished 8/20 from the floor, including five 3-pointers, and made all 11 of his free throws.

The performance tied a program record, equaling Zion Williamson’s mark for the most points by a Duke freshman in an NCAA Tournament game. Williamson set the mark against UCF in the second round of the 2019 tournament.

The 32-point performances are also tied for the fourth-most by any Blue Devil in a tournament game. Danny Ferry and Jason Williams both scored 34 points in a tournament game, and Jeff Mullins set a program record with 43 points against Villanova in 1964.

McCain also became the first Duke freshman to put up two 30-point games in a single tournament after he scored 30 points and made eight 3-pointers against James Madison in the second round.

Filipowski, McCain both go top 20 in ESPN’s post-Elite Eight mock draft

ESPN released a new NBA mock draft after the Elite Eight, and the Blue Devils had two players drafted in the top 20.

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo released an updated NBA mock draft on Monday morning in light of the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games.

The two analysts think Duke’s two stars, All-American 7-footer Kyle Filipowski and South All-Region Team member Jared McCain, both made the top 20 picks in the projections.

Filipowski went 16th overall to the Phoenix Suns after he averaged 16.4 points and 8.3 rebounds in his sophomore season. McCain went 19th overall to the Toronto Raptors after he averaged 21.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game during the four-game March Madness run.

The two players have gotten lottery hype, Filipowski due to his combination of size, passing ability (2.8 assists per game), and speed, and McCain because of his shooting prowess.

Despite the mock draft being two full rounds, no other Blue Devils made the 58 picks that Givony and Woo built out.

Jared McCain makes the South All-Region team after two 30-point games

Duke freshman Jared McCain scored 30 points in two of his four tournament games, and he was the only Blue Devil to make the all-region team.

Jared McCain was named to the South All-Region Team on Sunday evening after he scored 32 points against NC State in the Elite Eight.

McCain averaged 21.0 points per game in Duke’s four-game tournament run, including a 30-point game against James Madison in the second round when he made a program record eight 3-pointers in one NCAA Tournament game.

He also averaged 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, and the freshman finished 50% from beyond the 3-point line.

No other Duke player finished with even a 20-point game, much less two 30-point performances over the course of March Madness. McCain’s 32-point performance against the Wolfpack is tied for the fourth-most in a single NCAA Tournament game in Duke history.

NC State stars DJ Burns and DJ Horne led the five-man squad, and Marquette’s Tyler Kolek and Houston’s Jamal Shead also made the all-region team.

Jared McCain gets emotional while praising Scheyer, teammates after Elite Eight loss

Jared McCain, the standout freshman who had two 30-point tournament games, got emotional while talking about his coach and teammates after Sunday’s loss.

Jared McCain scored 21.0 points per game in his first NCAA Tournament, but it wasn’t enough to get Duke to the Final Four.

The Blue Devils lost to NC State for the second time this postseason, part of the Wolfpack’s Cinderella run from the brink of the NIT to the South regional title. McCain scored 32 points in the 76-64 loss, his second 30-point game of the tournament.

After the game, the standout freshman spoke about his teammates and head coach Jon Scheyer, and he couldn’t hold back the emotion.

“It’s meant everything to me to come here,” McCain said. “For Coach to believe in me, for my teammates to believe in me. Especially in the beginning of the year when I felt like, you know, I couldn’t get things going as a freshman, they instilled confidence in me.”

McCain gestured to Scheyer after the last comment, specifying that Scheyer in particular helped cultivate that confidence, before burying his face in his hands. Scheyer reached over and clasped his shoulder, patting him on the back.

McCain, a likely first-round NBA draft pick should he declare, finished with three 30-point games and nine 20-point games as a freshman.

Potential Thunder draft prospect Jared McCain scores 32 points in Duke’s loss to NC State

Potential Thunder draft prospect Jared McCain scores 32 points in Duke’s loss to NC State.

The Oklahoma City Thunder could have two 2024 first-round picks in the lottery range. They own the Houston Rockets’ top-four protected pick and the Utah Jazz’s top-10 protected pick. The former looks more likely to convey to OKC than the latter.

With the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament concluded, the top prospects were in the spotlight as they drew national attention for their postseason performances.

Considering the Thunder will likely have at least one lottery pick, plenty of possible additions via the draft give fans a chance to see how they match up in high-stress situations.

One possibility is Duke guard Jared McCain. He finished with 32 points on 8-of-20 shooting, 5-of-11 from 3, 11-of-11 from the free-throw line and six rebounds in 40 minutes in No. 4 Duke’s 76-64 loss to No. 11 NC State in the Elite Eight on Sunday.

McCain will likely be a one-and-done case; the freshman guard has played a vital role in Duke’s success. In 34 games, he averaged 14 points on 46.5% shooting, five rebounds and 1.9 assists. He shot 41.5% from 3 on 5.7 attempts.

The 20-year-old is a crafty scorer who can stretch the floor. Size is an issue  at 6 feet, 3 inches and 197 pounds, but he can grow into a solid frame over time.

On the Thunder, McCain can be a crafty scorer off the bench. He can enrich their deep guard depth and can be another catch-and-shoot option for OKC.

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DJ Burns trolls Duke’s Jared McCain with an Instagram story with the TikTok star

DJ Burns trolled the Duke player and TikTok star after the March Madness win to clinch a Final Four spot.

DJ Burns is the biggest star now thanks to 2024 March Madness.

The NC State forward dominated Duke and fans loved his classy moments after he helped the Wolfpack clinch a Final Four berth.

But he did a little trolling after the win over the Blue Devils, too. He threw in an Instagram video with Duke’s Jared McCain — a TikTok star! — getting fooled and he used a little clip of McCain dancing.

Burns later said it was “all love” and that he was having fun, but this qualifies as trolling. Here’s the clip that everyone was sharing after he posted it:

NC State storms back in second half to eliminate Duke in Elite Eight

The Wolfpack couldn’t make a shot in the first half, but they couldn’t miss in the second as they stormed back to win the South region.

For the second time in the 2024 postseason, underdog NC State stunned Duke. The Wolfpack dominated the final 20 minutes to storm back for a 76-64 victory on Sunday, clinching a spot in the Final Four.

The in-state rivals battled for the third time in the month of March on Sunday, just weeks after NC State bounced Duke from the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. Neither of the first two contests held the same stakes as this Elite Eight matchup, however.

The two North Carolina teams combined for an inefficient, mistake-prone first half from the floor. Neither team finished above 31% from the floor, and the Wolfpack and the Blue Devils went a combined 3/14 (21.4%) from behind the 3-point line. Duke coughed up the ball five times in the first 20 minutes.

Despite the inefficiency, freshman Jared McCain found a way to shine through once again. He helped take the lid off of the basket early with a transition 3-pointer, stopping on a dime with the NC State defense still not settled around him. The bucket gave Duke the lead back five minutes into the game, and his five free throws over the next two minutes extended the advantage to three points.

He couldn’t match his torrid early pace from the James Madison game in the second round, when he buried six first-half triples en route to a 30-point game, but he did score 13 points before the break.

The Blue Devils fought through their offensive struggles to take a 27-21 lead into the locker room. The Wolfpack fared even worse, making just one of their 11 layup attempts and one of their seven 3-point efforts.

Sophomore 7-footer Kyle Filipowski, who scored just two points on five shots in the first half, laid in an easy bucket a minute and a half into the second half, and Duke led 29-23.

The Wolfpack kept themselves alive, however. The two DJs, forward DJ Burns and guard DJ Horne, traded baskets as NC State went on a run. Horne made a layup, Burns made a bucket, and the lead shrank to four. Horne fed teammate Mohamed Diarra for a dunk before burying a 3-pointer to pull within one.

Horne, an All-ACC Third Team member, drew a foul on the next possession, and his two ensuing free throws pushed the Wolfpack in front for the first time since the opening minutes. After a three-point play from Filipowski, Burns and Horne traded three more baskets between them.

All told, the two DJs combined to score or assist on 21 of NC State’s points during the 25-11 run, and the Wolfpack led 48-40 with eight minutes to play.

When NC State’s Michael O’Connell buried a triple to balloon the lead to nine with seven minutes on the clock, the game felt officially out of hand.

The Wolfpack run officially slowed down at 35-15, and they outscored Duke 55-37 in the second half for the 12-point victory. Burns and Horne teamed for 49 combined points, and the duo shot 14/18 from the floor over the final 20 minutes. Duke, as a team, shot just 11/33.

NC State advances to play Purdue in the Final Four.