DonerKebab
Member
Plus shooter and tall?
2025 Men's Basketball Recruiting
- Thread starter DavidBenAkiva
- Start date
Well, not anywhere. Hubert would find a way to play him out of position and bury him on the bench.
I hope nobody is expecting Jon to hit the jackpot with every transfer he takes like he did this year. That would be a very unfair expectation. These 3 fit perfectly with the rest of our team on the court as well as with the culture. Youre just not gonna get that every time.
bluedevilwildcats
On Holiday
I guess I'm not sure what you mean by "hit the jackpot" but to me it implies all 3 guys exceeded expectations. For me at least, that would only be Sion. Brown is a strong defender but after winning ACC DPOY, I think his limited minutes and now injuries are a step down from last year. Mason appears to have significant impact in hard-to-measure ways but I was expecting more from the B10 6th man of the year.
Not dogging those guys, just saying that if how these 3 performed is "jackpot" then I think we have a good chance to hit that most years.
Bigger picture for me is that unlike in past years (especially with K), Jon appears open to getting transfers who can compete for serious minutes / take on starting roles. If he hadn't, maybe Jeremy is still around, or Caleb is playing heavy minutes, and I think we'd be worse off.
Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
Member
To me the most impressive aspect of this year's roster construction was finding the ideal parts rather than plugging in the highest rated players.
Each turned out to be more valuable than I would have guessed.
Sion was indispensable with the ball in his hands when Foster (for whatever reason) underperformed this season. Our team is unquestionably at its best when Sion is running the show.
Brown didn't have much room for improvement as ACC DPOY, but proved to be the key piece to binding together a defense on a roster full of young players that have never played a single game together.
Gillis earned his seat at the table multiple times, but most notably this past week.
I think Scheyer did an amazing job of identifying talent that matched with the incoming freshmen and a few hold overs. I think it's one of the most impressive things CJS has done since taking over the program.
CrazyNotCrazie
Member
Excellent post. I would just add that he clearly did a great job of convincing them to come to Duke. All three likely could have been guaranteed more PT elsewhere. And who knows about more NIL money. But they all bought into having a role in something special.
and the players get the biggest stage in college basketball at Duke. That's worth a lot.
DukieInBrasil
Member
I was too, as his 3FG shooting and scoring overall are waaaayyy down. However, it's impossible to know his intangible impacts. For example, on Saturday, Duke turned in a huge turnaround in the second half (+16) with Mason rather than Isaiah. None of Mason's stats pop out as definitiely the source of his impact, but he helped turn the game around.
Now, as far as "hit the jackpot", i think there's a lot to that if one considers the whole package of a) productivity b) connectivity c) filling of specific needs and d) team design. From that perspective i think CJS absolutely hit the jackpot, getting 4 guys who have collectively have given the team productivity, connectivity (positional flexibility), hit specific needs/roles for an excellent team design. The team seems to have great chemistry, partly due to the transfers completely buying in to what CJS is trying to do with this team. Sion won the starting PG role and has been absolutely fabulous in that role, which fills a need because CFos was not able to fill the role envisioned for him. Duke absolutely does not need offense from Maliq, even though he helped win at least one game with his offense, but it gets exceptional defense from him. Duke hasn't gotten the 3pt shooting from Mason that we all thought we were gonna get, but his shooting has been a very slight + "above replacement", and he gives the team intangible things. Finally, Cam Sheffield hasn't been productive during games, but it's hard to overstate how important tough exeperienced practice players are.
It's possible that CJS could have gotten a portal player or 2 that might have put up bigger numbers than a couple of ours, but they absolutely could not have fit on this team any better than the ones we got. Kudos to Jon.
Mason showed his value in the 2nd half as he helped stop #5 (name escapes me). It's not always about scoring points by a player. This squad has bought into team play. The combination of Mason (defense) and Evans (offense) has been valuable. Plus, we know Mason can shoot even if he's not shot like he did last season. And Evans has improved his defense way beyond what I expected.
GoDuke!
SkyBrickey
Member
I think this point is a big one. Our summer scrimmages were highly competitive and physical, toughening up our freshmen before the season started.
Maliq Brown was NOT the ACC DPOY in 2023-24. Reece Beekman of Virginia won that award.
Maliq did make the ACC all-defensive team in 2023-24, however (and got the 3rd-most votes, behind Beekman and Ryan Dunn, also of Virginia). And (to what I assume was bdw's original point) he did not make the ACC all-defensive team this season, presumably because of his injuries. I suspect Maliq may have won DPOY this season had he played the entire season uninjured, which would have been a step up from last year. But of course, who knows for sure? Maybe Chucky Hepburn still would have won it.
very very true. Someone pointed out how Scheyer had a long talk with Gillis after the game...so much of what he did defensively in the second half does not show up in a box score. Jon hated seeing Duke get out physicalled last year, Gillis, Brown and James have fixed that.
JasonEvans
Host, The Duke Basketball Roundup
Not sure how many of you have listened to the post-game interview I did with Mason (and Big Pat and Sion) following the ACC title game, but Mason's answer to my question about how he has shared his experiences from Purdue's run to the title game with this team was among the best answers I have gotten all year from a Duke player post-game.
It comes around the 14 minute mark in this episode: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/RRTET7320327183?selected=RRTET7826625348
AngolaDevil
Member
I imagine Jon expects to find similar success as this season with his transfers in future years. He's clearly found a winning blueprint for roster construction, blending high-end freshmen with experienced transfers/vets that fill specific roles with physical and emotional maturity.
I think it's entirely fair for fans to hope that Jon meets his own expectations. At the same time, he of course shouldn't be maligned if in certain years his (post-covid years) transfer classes don't meet the standard he and his staff established for themselves this season.
grateful_duke
Member
Jason… just wanted to say thanks to you and the guys at DBR for all the content over the years!! Long time fan of the show!!
The primary caution I offer here is that the extra year of COVID eligibility is gone and most of our recent impact transfers have been grad-transfers. Unless a kid graduates in 3 years, that market is gone. Based on what I understand about Duke's transfer rules, we can only take guys after their freshman or sophomore years, so the available pool has shrunk, especially the ability to gain age and experience via transfer.