DURHAM, N.C. – Duke men’s basketball held its annual preseason media day on Friday, Sept. 27. Along with selected players, head coach Jon Scheyer, associate head coaches Jai Lucas and Chris Carrawell, assistant coach Emanuel Dildy and Director of Player Development Justin Robinson all addressed the media.
The Blue Devils tip-off the 2024-25 campaign on Friday, Oct. 4, with their season-opening event, Countdown to Craziness. The regular season begins on Monday, Nov. 4, with Duke taking on Maine inside Cameron Indoor Stadium at 7 p.m.
HEAD COACH JON SCHEYER
On what the defense looks like so far and how they’ve progressed in practice:
“I think we’re further ahead in understanding who we can be on the defensive end. We can have a few different looks, which I think is important. But creating an identity has been the most important thing for us as a staff, and the versatility our team has in switching is clearly something that jumps off the page. The positional size and the fact our guards are bigger is a key thing. We’re still figuring out how to play with Khaman [Maluach]. When you play with Khaman, it’s very different, and so putting him in a position to be successful. Or, if Maliq [Brown] is on the floor, he’s also very different. I think it’s whatever you want to call it, the fastball or calling it a splinker – whatever you want to call it, they’re two different pitches – I think [our versatility] is an important and effective thing for our team.”
On the tough schedule:
“My goal right away was thinking about what prepares us the best for March. Every season, you never assume that’s just going to happen. You’ve got to earn it every single day. But you want to be playing your best at that point in the year. Playing in the games we’re playing, to me, prepares us to be ready and our best by the end of the season. I also feel any player that’s coming to Duke, they would say they want to play in those games. That’s the reason they chose to play here. I remember when I was a player, we would play Georgetown home-and-home and St John’s, and those were some of the most competitive and best games. Playing neutral [site] games, I think, is really important, because ultimately, you have to earn your way there, you want to put yourself in a position where you’re playing a neutral site game. Playing Illinois late in…
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