Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University’s men’s basketball head coach, is now set to retire after the 2022 season. Krzyzewski, who is nicknamed “Coach K”, has led the Duke program since 1980. He came to Duke from United States Military Academy at West Point, where he was a head coach for five years. He has the most wins out of any college basketball coach with 1,170. At Duke, he has won 1,097 games and has collected five national championships. This puts him at second on the all-time list for championships as a coach. Krzyzewski has also lead the USA National Basketball Team to three Olympic gold medals. Krzyzewski is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of fame.

Jon Scheyer has been tapped as the successor to Krzyzewski for the head coaching role at Duke. Scheyer previously served as the associate head coach under Coach K at Duke. Scheyer was a player at Duke from 2006-2010. He was named a captain in the 2010 season, in which the team claimed a national championship. Many have questioned this choice as Scheyer has no head coaching experience. However, Duke and Krzyzewski have expressed their confidence in Scheyer. “He represents our best path forward,” Krzyzewski said.

“This is absolutely humbling… Coach K has built the premier program in our sport thanks to his unwavering competitive edge,” Said Scheyer about the role.

“My family and I view today as a celebration,” stated Krzyzewski. “Our time at both West Point and Duke has been beyond amazing and we are thankful and honored to have led two college programs at world-class institutions for more than four decades. That, coupled with 11 unforgettable years as the United States National Team coach, has resulted in a remarkable journey. Certainly, I have been blessed to coach some of the finest young men and greatest players in basketball history as a direct result of these unique opportunities.”

Roy Williams, head coach at arch-rival University of North Carolina, praised Krzyzewski, saying “Mike’s been fantastic for the game of basketball.” He also called Krzyzewski “a good friend” and a “guy I’ve respected a great deal.”

Duke was notably absent from this past year’s NCAA tournament. The last time this happened was in 1995.

Scheyer will participate in a news conference on June 5 to discuss the future of the program.

The Duke Blue Devils were defeated in dramatic fashion Tuesday night losing to the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks in overtime 85-83. This was the first time in 150 games that a non-conference team has won in Cameron Indoor Stadium since St. John’s in February 2000.

Aside from losing to an unranked opponent, the way the Blue Devils lost was the most heart-breaking part of the night. In overtime Duke had possession and a chance to win, tied 83-83 with ten seconds left. After a sloppy pass into the paint was broken up, the Lumberjacks recovered the ball on the ground and had a fast-break leading to a wide open layup at the buzzer for senior Nathan Bain.

“I saw my teammate grab it and I looked up at the clock. We had about 2.6 seconds.  I was like, ‘I have to get up on my horse.’ I went as fast as I can to try to lay it up. It’s like a layup drill. I could feel the dude on my back and I just prayed it [would] go in,” Bain told ESPN.

The Lumberjacks are ranked number one in the nation in turnovers forced per game and made Duke uncomfortable on offense turning them over 22 times. Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski told the Duke Chronicle, “A key factor in the ballgame was to be strong with the ball, and we were not strong with the ball.  That’s really the easiest answer.”

Duke is not even in the top 50 in turnovers per game and they were favored to win by 29 points, according to CBS Sports. That what makes this loss so ridiculous. The Blue Devils gave up only two three pointers but allowed 64 points in the paint, the most allowed by the team in 10 years, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The Lumberjacks are not ranked and haven’t made it to the NCAA Tournament since 2016. Last year they had a 7-11 record in the Southland conference.

Another factor  in the loss was poor free throw shooting from the Blue Devils. They shot 24-40 from the stripe and 11-24 in the second half. Freshman sensation Vernon Carey Jr. had a good-looking stat line with 20 points and 11 rebounds, but shot 36% from the free throw line making only 4 of 11.

Lumberjacks senior Kevon Harris really stepped up for his team scoring 26 points with four assists and three steals while only turning the ball over three times.

“Every single night we have to play with the same hunger and the same toughness, no matter who we are playing.  We have to know that everyone is coming for us,” said Blue Devil sophomore point guard Tre Jones.

Duke will look to bounce back when they take on Winthrop Friday at home.

Even though it is only the NBA Summer League, New York Knicks rookie RJ Barrett has gotten off to one of the worst starts imaginable for a rookie as highly regarded as he is.

The third overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft continues to struggle shooting the ball. Against the Phoenix Suns last night, Barrett shot just 3-of-15 from the field including 1-of-5 from three-point range. Barrett also shot just 1-of-4 from the free throw line and finished with eight turnovers. Coming off a season for the Duke Blue Devils where Barrett averaged 22.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game while finishing with first-team All-ACC honors, the stat-line by Barrett against the Suns is incredibly underwhelming.

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In the Knicks’ Summer League opener against the New Orleans Pelicans, Barrett finished the game shooting an ugly 4-of-18 from the field including 1-of-8 from three-point range. Through his first two games in the Summer League, Barrett is shooting 7-of-33 (21.2%) from the field including 2-of-13 from three-point range (15.4%).

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Barrett has never been shy about shooting the ball. Last season at Duke, Barrett outshot teammate and the first overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, Zion Williamson, by 267 field goal attempts during the season (702 compared to 435). In the early stages of the Summer League, though, Barrett has looked extremely unconfident and nervous while playing. Hopefully, by the time that the NBA season rolls around in the fall, Barrett will be able to shake off these early career jitters that he has shown in Las Vegas.

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“RJ’s figuring it out,’’ Knicks Summer League coach Jud Buechler said. “There’s been a ton of pressure on him, especially the hype of the first game against Zion. He did some great things, a bunch of rebounds, a defensive run. His shooting and all that will come. We’re not worried about that. We’re telling him to stay aggressive and it will come around.”

Let there be no mistake about it, the only team that prospect RJ Barrett wants to be drafted by is the New York Knicks.

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This pairing makes sense for several different reasons. For starters, Barrett’s former teammate Zion Williamson is the consensus number one draft pick by the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Memphis Grizzlies (who own the second pick of the draft). Thus, it became public knowledge weeks ago that they prefer Murray State guard, Ja Morant, over every other prospect not named Williamson. It makes sense that the Knicks draft the player who is the next best prospect available, which is Barrett.

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“It would be a lot of fun, playing in the Garden, the bright lights,” Barrett told reporters back in May. “They have so much history down there. It would be amazing.”

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Being drafted by the Knicks also gives Barrett to maximize his media potential. On the flip side, playing in New York also comes with potentially more scrutiny if Barrett were to underperform. Barrett, though, reportedly would welcome the scrutiny and additional media coverage and based on what we have seen at Duke, Barrett is not afraid of the spotlight.

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Another potential draft landing spot for Barrett besides the Knicks could be in New Orleans with his former teammate Williamson. Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis over the weekend made it known that the only two teams that he is considering signing a long-term contract with if traded are the Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers. If the Knicks are interested in acquiring Davis this summer, one would think that the No. 3 pick in the NBA Draft is an asset the Knicks would have to surrender to New Orleans. The potential of pairing Williamson with Barrett as they did together at Duke this season might tantalize the Pelicans enough to consider trading Davis to them over the Lakers, who are considered by many to be the favorites to land the All-Star via trade this summer.

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