Tag: Sion James

Duke basketball transfers Sion James, Cameron Sheffield once faced off in state title game

Sion James and Cameron Sheffield, two of the newest Blue Devils, already put together a classic battle on the court years ago.

Duke basketball added a fourth transfer to its 2024-25 offseason class on Thursday when Rice’s Cameron Sheffield announced his commitment.

Sheffield joins three other Blue Devils in the upcoming transfer class, including former Tulane star Sion James. The two won’t need to be introduced, however.

Back in 2020, as seniors in high school, the two prospects met in the Georgia 6A State Final. James, who was already committed to the Green Wave, scored 28 points for Lanier. However, Sheffield scored 31 points for Chattahoochie and led his team to a 69-66 overtime victory.

James, a three-star prospect according to 247Sports, was the 59th-ranked point guard in the Class of 2020. He averaged a career-high 14.0 points per game last season, and he finished his Tulane career with 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

Sheffield did not bring any stars with him to Rice despite the standout state title performance. He sat out the 2023-24 season with a foot injury, but he played 95 games for the Owls across the previous three seasons. He averaged 7.6 points and 6.1 rebounds in his last full season.

After four seasons of college basketball, the two will finally play for the same team.

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 men’s basketball will be one of the tallest teams in the country next season

With no players on the roster shorter than 6-foot-5, the Blue Devils have size on their side in 2024-25.

[autotag]Tyrese Proctor[/autotag] is 6-foot-5.

The returning junior’s height sounds pretty unremarkable by basketball standards. He’s tall for a ball-handler, and a wing who can average nearly four assists per game offers flexibility.

That reaction changes when it’s revealed Duke won’t have a shorter player on the roster next season.

The Blue Devils have 11 players on the roster for the 2023-24 season, and they have an average height of 79.4 inches — a hair above 6-foot-7. The tallest team in the nation last year, Florida State, averaged 79.3 inches.

Proctor and Caleb Foster, the two returning guards, both measure in at 6-foot-5, as does five-star freshman Kon Knueppel. Darren Harris and Isaiah Evans, two other members of the 2024 recruiting class, stand 6-foot-6, as do Purdue transfer Mason Gillis and Tulane transfer Sion James.

Every other player on the team will be at least 6-foot-8.

Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 recruit in the nation and the presumed top pick in the 2025 NBA draft, is 6-foot-9, and he might play as a small forward for the Blue Devils.

Based on Duke Wire’s projected starting lineups, the Blue Devils’ first five will either have an average height of 79.8 inches or 80.2 inches. The smallest realistic starting lineup would be 6-foot-5 Foster, 6-foot-5 Proctor, 6-foot-6 James, 6-foot-9 Flagg, and 7-foot-1 Maluach, which is still an average of 79.6 inches.

No matter how head coach Jon Scheyer wants to arrange the starting lineup, the Blue Devils will be taller than whoever they play in 2024-25.

Duke transfer Sion James shares social media message about officially signing on

Sion James, who officially signed with the Blue Devils on Monday morning, had a national title on his mind after the announcement.

Duke transfer Sion James from Tulane officially signed on with the program on Monday morning, and based on his social media activity, he’s already got March on his mind.

James shared a short message about his signing on Monday morning shortly after the team announcement.

“Can’t wait to head up to Durham and get number 6!!” James wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Six, of course, referring to what would be Duke’s sixth national title. The Blue Devils cut down the nets in 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, and 2015, all won with head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The NCAA Tournament for the 2024-25 season will mark one decade since Duke’s last national title, the first decade-long drought since the first title in 1991.

The program came close recently, however. The Blue Devils made the Final Four in 2022, Coach K’s last season with the team, and the Elite Eight last season with new coach Jon Scheyer.

The 2024-25 roster will mark one of the team’s best chances at the national title, however. Scheyer brought in the No. 1 recruiting class in the country with six top-50 freshmen, including the top recruit in the country in Cooper Flagg. James also leads a top-20 transfer class that also welcomes Purdue’s Mason Gillis and Syracuse’s Maliq Brown.

Duke fans will need to wait until this fall to see if the 2024-25 squad can end the decade-long drought.

Tulane transfer Sion James officially signs with Duke Blue Devils

Duke’s third transfer of the offseason, Tulane’s Sion James, made it official on Monday morning when he signed with the Blue Devils.

Days after his commitment, Duke transfer Sion James made his Blue Devils status official on Monday morning.

The men’s basketball team announced that James officially signed on to the program at the start of the week.

James, a four-year member of the Tulane Green Wave, finished the 2023-24 season with 14.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.6 steals. He’s averaged at least 2.5 assists in each of his last three seasons, and he averaged at least one steal in all four seasons.

The newest Duke guard also compliments new teammates Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster well. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound James earned the most praise for his ability as a slasher, with roughly half of his attempts coming around the rim last season.

James becomes the third player to join head coach Jon Scheyer’s program as a transfer this offseason. 3-point specialist Mason Gillis from Purdue and efficient big man Maliq Brown from Syracuse both committed in April.

James becomes one of 11 scholarship players in Durham for the 2023-24 season, and he’ll almost assuredly start for the Blue Devils next season.

Tulane play-by-play announcer raves about Duke transfer Sion James

Jack Benjamin, who watched more than three dozen Tulane games while Sion James took the court, couldn’t be higher on the newest Blue Devil.

Duke transfer [autotag]Sion James[/autotag] made a few fans before he left Tulane.

The newest Blue Devil announced his commitment on Friday morning, and one play-by-play announcer from his old school sounded particularly impressed.

Jack Benjamin, who spent close to 40 games on the microphone watching James play with the Green Wave, said the Blue Devils “struck gold” with their newest transfer.

“He got better every year,” Benjamin wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “He’s one of the most explosive athletes I’ve ever seen.”

Benjamin also praised James’ work ethic. In a report from insider Jeff Goodman, an anonymous coach expressed a similar sentiment about the former Tulane guard, saying his improvement from 3-point range emphasized his dedication. As a freshman in 2020-21, James shot 28% from beyond the arc, but he made more than 38% of his attempts last season.

“Somehow, he’s a better human being,” Benjamin added at the end of his praise.

Duke fans will see James in Blue Devils attire for the first time this fall.

One coach says Duke ‘got a steal’ with Tulane transfer Sion James, per report

Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman, a longtime college basketball insider, shared insight from one coach who sounded like a Sion James fan on Friday.

New Duke guard Sion James, who committed to transfer to Durham on Friday morning, isn’t just popular among Blue Devils fans.

According to a report from longtime college basketball insider Jeff Goodman, one coach thinks that head coach Jon Scheyer found the perfect player.

“I think Duke got a steal,” the coach said, according to Goodman’s post on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter).

The coach said James, who measures in at 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, can play any position on the court. They praised James’ basketball intelligence and pointed to how he improved as a 3-point shooter during his time with the Green Wave.

As a freshman in 2020-21, James took 1.1 3-pointers per game and made just 28.0% of his looks. As a junior last season, he averaged 3.6 attempts per game and connected on 38.1% of them.

“That speaks for his work ethic itself,” the coach added.

Goodman’s report also raved about James’ defensive ability, as the Tulane guard averaged 1.6 steals and 0.6 blocks per game for his career.

“If you could go into a machine and make a stereotype old school Duke players, that’s Sion,” the coach concluded.

James became the third transfer to commit to head coach Jon Scheyer after Mason Gillis from Purdue and Maliq Brown from Syracuse.

This stat proves Tulane transfer Sion James is a perfect fit in Duke’s guard room

Sion James joins Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster in Duke’s backcourt for 2024-25, but he offers an offensive dimension neither can match.

Former Tulane guard Sion James announced his commitment to the Duke Blue Devils on Friday, adding another excellent starting option for head coach Jon Scheyer.

However, while James can play the same position as Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor, his advanced stats show he also plays an entirely different game.

According to CBB Analytics, half of James’ shot attempts last season came around the rim. The former Green Wave star shot 51.4% from the floor in 2023-24, but his efficiency jumped to 62% as he closed in on the basket. When you consider his 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame, it makes sense that James builds his game around his athletic prowess.

Contrast that with Foster and Proctor, who both stand 6-foot-5 and below 200 pounds. Foster attempted 69 3-pointers last year, more than 40% of his shots. Proctor tossed up 165 triples, more than half of his respective attempts.

James upped his 3-point production in each of his four years with Tulane, attempting 113 last year and connecting at a 38.1% clip. However, that still represented less than 40% of his overall shotmaking.

Only time will tell how much Foster, Proctor, and James all stand on the court together next season. However, trading 2023-24 star Jared McCain for James means teams have to entirely adjust to Duke’s guard play. James’ interior creation and finishing ability can open up looks for his sharpshooting teammates, a combination Scheyer surely targeted on purpose.

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.

Newest Blue Devil transfer Sion James shares social media post about Duke commitment

Sion James shared a photo of himself in Duke gear after he announced his commitment on Friday.

Sion James, the newest Duke Blue Devil, seemed excited to play in Durham after his Friday commitment.

James, a former member of the Tulane Green Wave, shared a social media post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the report from On3’s Joe Tipton.

“Duke Nation, what’s good???” James captioned the picture of him in a Blue Devils uniform.

As a junior last season, James averaged a career-high 14.0 points and shot 51.4% from the floor. He pulled down 5.4 rebounds, also a personal best, and he averaged 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals across his four years with the Green Wave.

James became the third member of Duke’s transfer class after former Purdue Boilermaker Mason Gillis and former Syracuse Orange Maliq Brown, who both committed in April. As a pure guard, James will share the backcourt with returning starters Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor.

If Blue Devils fans want an additional offensive dimension with their guards, James also shot 38.1% from 3-point range in 2023-24.

After losing seven players to the transfer portal and two players to the NBA this offseason, Duke now has 11 players on scholarship for the 2024-25 season.