Tag: Jon Scheyer

Jon Scheyer and Duke add Rice graduate transfer Cameron Sheffield to 2024-25 roster

Cameron Sheffield became the second Rice player to commit to the Blue Devils in two days after the football team landed cornerback Tre’Shon Devones.

Duke basketball and head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] landed the fourth transfer commitment of the 2024-25 offseason on Thursday when Rice’s Cameron Sheffield announced his decision on social media.

A longtime starter for the Owls, Sheffield played 95 games (with 55 starts) since the start of the 2020-21 season. He averaged 7.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in the 2022-23 season, his last year on the court.

He also shot 37.3% from 3-point range that year, his best career mark, and he managed that efficiency despite averaging more than three attempts from beyond the arc per game.

Sheffield redshirted this past season after a foot injury kept him out for the year.

The former Owl joins Sion James of Tulane, Maliq Brown of Syracuse, and Mason Gillis of Purdue in the Blue Devils’ incoming transfer class.

At 6-foot-6, Sheffield also contributes to Duke’s massive height. The Blue Devils don’t have a player on the roster below 6-foot-5, and the most common starting lineups could be an average of 80 inches tall.

Sheffield, funnily enough, becomes the second Rice transfer in two days for Duke University. The Blue Devils football team added 6-foot cornerback Tre’Shon Devones on Wednesday night.

Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer praises Cooper Flagg’s effort, says ‘he always competes’

While speaking with ACC Network on Wednesday, Duke coach Jon Scheyer effused praise for his No. 1 recruit’s effort and what it means.

Nobody needs to be told [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] is talented.

The No. 1 player in the Class of 2024 spearheads a historically good Duke recruiting class, and there’s a reason the 6-foot-9 Maine native already gets buzz as a generational prospect. He can handle the ball like a guard, he can block shots into the bleachers, he can run point in an offense. Anything a coach wants Flagg to do, he can do exceptionally well.

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer doesn’t think that’s the most important part of Flagg’s repertoire, however. During a segment with ACC Network on Wednesday, Scheyer heaped praise onto something else about the Montverde Academy product: his effort.

“No matter when I’ve seen him, if it’s a Sunday morning at 8 a.m. after playing for a few days, whether it’s watching him play on ESPN, you know, the national championship game this year, he always plays the same way,” Scheyer said. “He always competes, 100% effort, and I think that’s a separator.”

“Obviously, you look at his athleticism, talent, size, and skill is off the charts,” the Blue Devils program leader added. “But to me, it’s how he competes and who he is as a teammate.”

The Blue Devils enter the 2024-25 season as one of the favorites to win it all thanks to Flagg, five other top-50 freshmen, and transfers like Tulane’s Sion James, Syracuse’s Maliq Brown, and Purdue’s Mason Gillis.

Duke Blue Devils, Jon Scheyer add Tulane Green Wave transfer guard Sion James

Duke adds Tulane transfer Sion James.

The Duke Blue Devils landed their third transfer of the offseason when Tulane transfer Sion James announced his commitment on Friday. On3’s Joe Tipton first reported the decision.

James declared for the NBA Draft while retaining his eligibility earlier this spring. After a pre-draft workout in Memphis last week, James officially visited Duke, and the rest is history.

The newest Blue Devil is listed as a 6-foot-6, 220-pound guard who appeared in 31 games for the Green Wave during the 2023-24 season, leading the team in minutes at nearly 37 per game. He was highly productive, with averages of 14.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per contest while shooting 51% from the field. He was proficient from deep, too, shooting 38% with an effective field goal percentage of 59 percent, good for the 84th percentile in college basketball last year.

James’ value to Duke is his physicality and slashing ability. One area Duke has lacked in the last couple of seasons was a guard consistently getting downhill to the lane and finishing regularly. James has the size and strength, coupled with an excellent first step, to be a menace to opposing defenses as he attacks the lane. Half of his shot attempts last year were at the rim, where he shot 62%.

He also played point guard for the Green Wave, highlighted by his 13% assist rate. He routinely initiated offenses for Tulane and could create shots for others even when out of sets.

[autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag]’s second season at Duke improved in many areas from year one. However, it was not without turbulence. That’s part of the growth process for a young coach—especially one without any head coaching experience before he took over the job from the legendary Mike Krzyzewski.

After an appearance in the Elite Eight that saw them lose to NC State, it was back to the drawing board for Scheyer and his staff as they look to bring Duke its sixth national championship and first since 2015.

Seven players from the 2023-24 team entered the transfer portal. The type of mass exodus that would have any program scrambling. Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster announced their intentions to return. Duke has six freshmen inbound, led by high school basketball’s best player, Cooper Flagg. The Blue Devils already added Purdue transfer Mason Gillis and Syracuse big man Maliq Brown from the portal.

Duke now has three guards who aren’t freshmen. They can rely on one to bring the ball up. It also gives Duke another wrinkle of versatility, as James can seamlessly guard positions 1-3. Hence, it allows Scheyer to run a full three-guard lineup like this past year or have one of Proctor, Foster, or James come off the bench as a big-time stabilizing force for Duke’s second unit.

This addition also allows Duke not to rely on freshmen Darren Harris, Kon Knueppel, and Isaiah Evans nearly as much and will enable them to ease into the college game.

Duke’s impact transfer portal pursuits are wrapped up. Any other transfers are likely for deep bench depth and are unlikely to be counted on as meaningful contributors nightly.

Duke reportedly will host George Mason on December 17

According to Jon Rothstein, KD Johnson and the George Mason Patriots will be one of Duke’s last non-conference games in 2024-25.

The Cameron Crazies won’t know the full 2024-25 schedule for a while now, but one day on the calendar might have been revealed on Wednesday.

CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, one of the foremost college basketball insiders, reported that the Blue Devils will host George Mason on December 17. He shared the news through X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

The Patriots would be one of the last non-conference games on Duke’s 2024-25 schedule if the report is accurate. During the 2023-24 season, the Blue Devils played their last non-ACC opponent on December 30.

Duke played George Mason once in school history, a 69-53 victory back in December 2006. Head coach Jon Scheyer actually scored 18 points as a freshman in that game, making four of his seven 3-point attempts.

Former Auburn guard KD Johnson committed to the Patriots last month. He averaged 7.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 1.1 assists as a senior for the Tigers last season, but he made just 37.8% of his attempts and 27.1% of his threes.

The Blue Devils have also been linked to both Kansas and Illinois during the non-conference schedule, but neither game has been officially announced.

UPDATE: Dayton sharpshooter Koby Brea no longer visiting Duke

Dayton’s Koby Brea no longer plans to visit Duke next week.

After seeing more than nine players leave the program for the portal or professional opportunities since Duke’s season ended, head coach Jon Scheyer has been deliberate in the transfer portal.

However, it seems like Dayton shooter Koby Brea won’t be a part of those plans.

After a Friday report from national insider Jon Rothstein that Brea would visit the Blue Devils from Tuesday to Thursday of next week, The News & Observer’s Stephen Wiseman confirmed Brea would not take a trip to Durham.

Brea averaged 11.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game this past season while shooting an NCAA-best 49.8 percent beyond the arc for a Flyers group that posted a 25-8 record and reached the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 before ultimately falling to Arizona.

Duke does still have two transfers so far this offseason. Maliq Brown is officially a Blue Devil, and he adds defensive prowess and energy and is an elite finisher at the rim. Purdue transfer Mason Gillis, who also officially joined the program on Friday, is a sharpshooter who can guard multiple positions along the perimeter. He was the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year and brings leadership, toughness, and range to hit big shots.

Purdue transfer Mason Gillis officially signs with the Blue Devils

Former Purdue Boilermaker and Duke transfer Mason Gillis made his commitment official on Friday after the team announced his signing.

Former Purdue guard Mason Gillis made his Duke transfer commitment official on Friday morning, the team announced.

Gillis, a 6-foot-6 graduate transfer, won Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year en route to the national title game with the Boilermakers. He averaged 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, and he connected on 46.8% of his 3-point attempts.

The former Boilermaker played 132 games over the last four years, starting 63 times in that span, and he’s averaged at least five points per game in every season.

Over the course of the NCAA Tournament, Gillis averaged 3.3 points per game. He scored a season-high 16 points against Nebraska when he made five triples. The flamethrowing shooter took more than 75% of his shots from beyond the arc as a senior in 2023-24.

Gillis became the second transfer commitment on Wednesday, aligning with head coach Jon Scheyer just two days after former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown.

Gillis and Brown join returning starters Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor in Durham next season as the team’s veteran leadership. The team also awaits Cooper Flagg and five other elite freshmen in the 2024 recruiting class.

Duke lands Purdue transfer Mason Gillis

Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils have landed their second transfer addition after former Purdue forward Mason Gillis announced his commitment to Duke.

Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils have landed their second transfer addition of the offseason.

Former Purdue forward Mason Gillis announced his commitment to Duke on Monday afternoon, per Joe Tipton of On3 Sports.

Gillis played four seasons at Purdue after redshirting in 2019-20. He was named the Big 10 6th Man of the Year for his play this past season when he averaged 6.5 points and shot 46.8% from beyond the arc.

In his 39 games across the 2023-24 season, he also averaged 3.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, and he shot 47.9% from the floor for the campaign.

The pairing seemed like a long time coming after fans noticed Gillis followed the Blue Devils on Instagram last week. Multiple 247Sports experts gave Crystal Ball predictions that the former Boilermaker would pick Duke.

Gillis brings a veteran guard presence to a Duke squad, having played 132 career games across his collegiate career at Purdue. As of Monday afternoon, Tyrese Proctor is the only other upperclassman in Duke’s backcourt.

Gillis is rated as a four-star transfer, according to 247Sports’ Transfer Portal rankings.

He joins former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown as the second commitment to the Blue Devils this cycle. Head coach Jon Scheyer still has three open scholarship spots as he tries to replace Duke’s 10 departures.

BREAKING: Duke lands commitment from Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown

Duke lands it first transfer of the offseason as former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown commits.

After a week of nothing but departures from its program, Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils are finally playing offense in the NCAA transfer portal.

Former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown committed to Duke on Saturday afternoon, per On3 Sports’ Joe Tipton.

Brown, a four-star recruit, spent his first two collegiate seasons in Syracuse, where he played sparingly as a freshman. This past season, as a sophomore, the 6-foot-8 forward started 16 games for the Orange and was their de facto center after an Achilles injury sidelined starter Naheem McLeod for the season. Brown posted 9.5 points and grabbed 7.2 boards per game.

Brown’s game is defense, hustle, and finishing at a high rate around the rim. He shot nearly 70% from the field in both his freshman and sophomore years, and his 71.3% effective field-goal percentage was the highest in the ACC, according to KenPom.

He was an ACC All-Defensive Team nominee this season and led the conference with 2.2 steals per game last year. He’s a high-level athlete who will give Duke versatility as a small-ball five or by playing his natural spot at power forward.

Brown has already shown the Duke staff what he can do, scoring 28 points against Duke in Cameron this past season. Brown started his visit to Duke earlier in the week, and the rest was history. He didn’t visit anywhere else before ultimately committing on Saturday afternoon.

Brown will fill the void left by Mark Mitchell and Sean Stewart’s departures. He also brings another veteran presence and voice to a team that will add six freshmen in the summer and will need a lot of leadership as they attempt to gel.

Duke on the shortlist for BYU transfer Dallin Hall, per report

According to a Friday report from 247Sports analyst Travis Branham, Duke is firmly in contention for former BYU guard Dallin Hall.

Head coach Jon Scheyer got Crystal Ball predictions for former Purdue guard Mason Gillis and former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown on Friday, but the Blue Devils don’t appear to be done yet.

According to 247Sports national basketball analyst Travis Branham, Duke is on the shortlist for BYU transfer Dallin Hall.

Hall averaged 9.0 points and 5.1 assists for the Cougars last year, and he tacked on 3.5 rebounds per game despite being just 6-foot-4. The sophomore is a career 36% 3-point shooter, and he shot 42.2% from the floor last season.

Branham says Duke is in contention for Hall alongside Virginia, Creighton, Clemson, Cincinnati, Florida, Washington, Utah, and Utah State. Hall’s former coach, Mark Pope, took over Kentucky to replace John Calipari, but the Wildcats don’t appear to be in consideration.

https://x.com/TravisBranham_/status/1781466751215026472

Hall would help replenish a Duke backcourt losing Jeremy Roach to the transfer portal and Jared McCain to the NBA. Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor, the latter of whom led the team in assists last year, both return for the 2024-25 season.

Former Purdue guard Mason Gillis gets a pair of Crystal Ball predictions for the Blue Devils

Purdue sharpshooter Mason Gillis, who connected on 46.8% of his 3-point attempts last season, could be on the way to help shore up Duke’s backcourt.

Two 247Sports experts shared Crystal Ball predictions on Friday afternoon that former Purdue guard Mason Gillis would eventually commit to Duke.

National basketball analyst Travis Branham and The Devils Den’s John Watson shared their predictions within a half-hour of each other on Friday. Blue Devils fans started to get excited about the potential commitment on Tuesday when someone discovered that Gillis and Duke followed each other on Instagram.

Gillis is 17th on EvanMiya’s transfer portal rankings. He averaged 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds for the Boilermakers last season, but his biggest point of emphasis comes from his 46.8% 3-point shooting.

The former Purdue guard would shore up a backcourt that lost starters Jeremy Roach and Jared McCain since the end of the season, as well as depth pieces like Jaylen Blakes and Jaden Schutt.

The Gillis predictions came minutes after Branham and two other 247Sports analysts predicted that former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown would also choose the Blue Devils.