Tag: Mason Gillis

Cooper Flagg turns a steal into a transition dunk in Duke basketball practice

The Duke basketball team practiced at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday night, and Cooper Flagg got his first dunk in the storied arena.

The Duke Blue Devils practiced in Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time on Monday night, and it didn’t take top-ranked freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] very long to establish his presence in the arena.

The Duke social media team posted a clip of Flagg intercepting a pass from new teammate [autotag]Mason Gillis[/autotag], a transfer from the Purdue Boilermakers. The steal gave Flagg a free runway to the hoop at the other end of the court, and the Maine native easily converted the opportunity into a two-handed dunk.

Blue Devils coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] has praised Flagg for his effort on the defensive end throughout the entire offseason, and the presumed No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft went on The Brotherhood Podcast earlier this summer and described himself as someone who takes pride in doing the little things correctly.

All of the team’s offseason content, from Monday’s clip to scrimmage videos, only validates the idea that Flagg will instantly be one of the best defenders in the sport.

https://twitter.com/DukeMBB/status/1838332902465040799

Gillis got a little redemption later in the practice with a contested 3-pointer over freshman 7-footer Khaman Maluach, something he excelled at with his old school. The fifth-year senior made 46.8% of his triples in 2023-24.

https://twitter.com/DukeMBB/status/1838333273115676879

New Duke basketball transfer Mason Gillis once played in Little League World Series

Mason Gillis will endear himself to the Cameron Crazies this fall, but die-hard Little League World Series fans might recognize him from a 2012 run.

Incoming Duke basketball transfer Mason Gillis might have won Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year honors on the basketball court in 2023-24, but his first national impression on the sports world came on the baseball diamond.

Gillis reached the Little League World Series in 2012 as a member of the New Castle Little League team that represented Indiana.

The new Blue Devil didn’t just coast his way to Williamsport at the bottom of the roster, either. He actually drove in the run that clinched New Castle’s ticket to the LLWS, a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the last inning against Kentucky that broke a tie in the Great Lakes final.

In a 2022 article from WLFI’s Kelly Hallinan, Gillis said he remembered feeling like a celebrity once he reached the big stage, signing autographs and taking pictures. He also said he held on to his equipment from that run, including his jersey and helmet.

“It’s such a once in a lifetime thing,” Gillis told Hallinan. “That’s how impactful it was in my life.”

Gillis and his teammates defeated Oregon in the opening round, but losses to Texas and Connecticut knocked them from the bracket.

Jon Scheyer talks about toughness and leadership on 2024-25 Duke basketball team

Jon Scheyer’s talked a lot this offseason about his Duke basketball team competing and showing toughness, but what does that mean?

Duke basketball coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] keeps using the words “compete” and “tough” to talk about his vision for the 2024-25 Blue Devils. He praised [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the top prospect in the country, for how hard he plays. But what exactly does Scheyer mean when he says stuff like that?

During a Monday episode of The Devil’s Den podcast, Scheyer broke down what he looks for in a basketball player and how he defines a competitor behind the scenes.

“For me, when I think about competitiveness or toughness, I think about somebody who wants to do it every single day,” Scheyer said. “Not just depending on the game, not just when the lights come on, but does somebody show up every single day.”

Scheyer brought up [autotag]Jared McCain[/autotag]’s work ethic a lot during the Philadelphia guard’s freshman season, so it’s safe to assume he’s been a shining recent example of this work ethic. The third-year Duke coach also thinks his older players, from returners Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor to his new transfers, show those same qualities.

“They’ve been incredible,” Scheyer said about his two returning guards. “They’ve been great with looking themselves in the mirror, things they can do better…they’re hungry, ready to go, but I think those three guys from the portal really provide that as well, Mason (Purdue transfer Mason Gillis) in particular.”

Duke basketball freshman Kon Knueppel shows off 3-point shooting in new video

Kon Knueppel, an upcoming freshman on the Duke basketball team, almost knocked down 30 3-pointers in a row in a new practice video.

If you thought the hype for Duke basketball’s 2024 recruiting class couldn’t get any higher, Thursday proved you wrong.

In a two-minute video from a recent practice, [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag] knocked down 28 3-pointers on 29 attempts from multiple different spots on the court.

Knueppel, a five-star prospect and a top-20 player in the class, already got first-round hype from multiple draft analysts. The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie thinks he might be the second-best freshman on the 2024-25 squad. It’s easy to see why he might be one of the best debutants in the nation next year if he, at 6-foot-7, can knock down triples with ease.

He’s still just the fourth-highest-rated player in the incoming recruiting class.

If you want some examples of the camaraderie in the Duke locker room, [autotag]Tyrese Proctor[/autotag] and [autotag]Mason Gillis[/autotag] rebounded for their new teammate in the extended video. Proctor stood under the rim and fired the ball back out to Gillis, who passed the ball back to Knueppel.

Duke fans get to see Knueppel, [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], and the rest of Duke’s overhauled 2024-25 roster in the fall.

Duke transfer Mason Gillis explains why he picked the Blue Devils in new podcast clip

Gillis, who spent four years with Purdue and won Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year last season, said the Blue Devils were always a dream destination.

It was always the Blue Devils for Purdue transfer Mason Gillis.

Gillis appeared in an episode of The Brotherhood Podcast on Tuesday, talking to Caleb Foster about his experience picking Duke and finding a new school through the transfer portal. From Gillis’s words, it sounds like the Blue Devils were always the leaders in the clubhouse for him.

“Talking to my inner circle, I always had to tell everybody ‘I’m biased toward Duke, it’s been my dream to come to Duke, I need you to tell me why I maybe shouldn’t go there,'” Gillis told new teammate Caleb Foster. “And, after each conversation, everybody was like, ‘Mason, you’ve got to go to Duke.'”

Gillis said the people in Duke’s program also drew him toward Durham, saying how he values unselfish teammates who can enjoy the success of those around them.

“We have to be able to push each other toward our individual goals and help each other reach them and be happy,” Gillis said to Foster. “Say I don’t reach a goal and you reach a goal, I’ve got to be happy for you. And I would expect it vice versa.”

Gillis, the 2023-24 Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year, averaged 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while making 46.8% of his 3-point attempts. He played for the Boilermakers for four seasons, and he’s got 132 games and 63 starts on his college resume.

Duke fans should expect him to contend for a starting role with the Blue Devils and will at worst come off the bench as a sixth man again next season.

An updated look at Duke basketball’s place on EvanMiya’s transfer class rankings

The Blue Devils brought in four transfers in the offseason, and they’re close to EvanMiya’s top 10 incoming classes.

The Duke basketball team lost seven players to the transfer portal this offseason, but they welcomed four more as head coach Jon Scheyer rebuilt the program around [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and the 2024 recruiting class. Popular basketball analytics site EvanMiya thinks Scheyer did a good job.

The site, founded by Evan Miyakawa, considered Duke’s four incoming transfers as the 12th-best class in the country with three of the four new Blue Devils given five-star grades.

Mason Gillis, who won Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year last season with Purdue, and Syracuse’s Maliq Brown ranked as the 24th and 25th overall players in the portal on EvanMiya’s big board, respectively. Sion James of Tulane came in 54th.

The Blue Devils have the second-best transfer portal class in the ACC, according to EvanMiya’s site rankings. The Louisville Cardinals, in the first season of a rebuild with new coach Pat Kelsey, sit in second.

Scheyer’s been efficient with his time, too. The Blue Devils are the only team within the top 24 of EvanMiya’s class rankings to sit below the top 300 in transfer portal activity.

All four Duke basketball transfers choose new numbers with the Blue Devils

All four Duke Blue Devils men’s basketball transfers will switch jersey numbers as well as programs this offseason.

Duke basketball released its jersey numbers for the 2024-25 season, and all four new faces will wear a different number than they did at their old school.

Syracuse’s Maliq Brown and Tulane’s Sion James didn’t have much of a choice, in all fairness. They both wore No. 1 for their old programs, but returning guard Caleb Foster already called dibs on that number during his freshman season in 2023-24.

Brown will instead don No. 6, and James will wear No. 14.

By luck, the only two returning Blue Devils starters blocked three of the four incoming transfers from their old numbers. Rice transfer Cameron Sheffield ran wore No. 5 for the Owls, but junior Tyrese Proctor wore that number for the last two years and he’ll also be back. Sheffield swapped to No. 13.

Mason Gillis wore No. 0 when he played for Purdue. Even though the number is available (Jared McCain wore it as a freshman last season, but he’d headed to the NBA), Gillis instead switched to No. 18.

Check out a full list of Duke’s 2024-25 basketball roster with updated jersey numbers here.

The best photos of Duke basketball’s transfer players with their old schools

With Duke adding its fourth transfer of the offseason on Thursday, here are some of the best photos of the Blue Devils of tomorrow.

The six freshmen in Duke’s upcoming recruiting class might be stealing all of the headlines, but don’t forget about the veterans.

Four new upperclassmen committed to the Blue Devils over the course of this offseason, each offering very different skill sets.

James, a 6-foot-6 guard from Tulane with eyebrow-raising athleticism, might be one of the best slashers and finishers in the country. Former Purdue Boilermaker Mason Gillis made more than 46% of his 3-pointers last season, and former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown finished the 2023-24 season with an effective field goal percentage above 70%.

Cameron Sheffield of Rice tacked onto the list with his Thursday commitment after sitting out the 2023-24 season with a foot injury. He averaged 7.6 points and 6.1 rebounds across 35 games in 2022-23, however.

Blue Devils fans will need to be patient before they see the newest Duke stars at Cameron Indoor Stadium. In the meantime, here are some of the best looks at the four transfers while they were with their old schools.

Duke Blue Devils now have a top-20 transfer portal class after landing Tulane’s Sion James

After his third transfer on Friday, head coach Jon Scheyer now boasts a top-20 transfer class on top of his historic 2024 recruiting group.

After the Friday commitment of Tulane guard Sion James, the Duke Blue Devils now have 247Sports’ 18th-best transfer class in the country.

James, who averaged 14.0 points and shot 51.4% from the floor as a junior last season, became the third transfer commitment of the offseason for head coach Jon Scheyer. Purdue’s Mason Gillis, who was named the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year last season, and Syracuse’s Maliq Brown both committed back in April.

The Blue Devils are one of three teams in the top 20 of 247Sports’ rankings with three commitments or fewer. The Kansas Jayhawks (sixth) also only have three players in the transfer class right now, and the Baylor Bears (17th) have former Duke captain Jeremy Roach as one of two transfers.

Duke’s average rating of 93.50 between its trio of new stars is the 10th-highest of any school.

The Blue Devils are also the highest-ranked ACC team in the transfer rankings. NC State, who is one spot behind Duke in 19th, is the only other school in the conference inside the top 20.

Scheyer gets to pair this top-20 transfer class with the top-ranked recruiting class in the country next season, featuring No. 1 overall recruit Cooper Flagg and five other top-50 prospects.

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.