NEWARK, N.J. — The word Jon Scheyer regularly uses is “connected.” That’s how the Duke coach describes his team — which is headed to the Elite Eight after beating Arizona 100-93 at the Prudential Center on Thursday — over and over again. His players say it, too. “We’re just such a connected group,” junior Tyrese Proctor, a 6-foot-6 guard, said. “Obviously on the court, but I think off the court, just being so close to one another and trusting each other. We know what works and we know what doesn’t work.”
The Blue Devils had 20 assists on 33 made field goals and shot 60 percent from the field and 57.9 percent from three in the victory over Arizona. Through three NCAA Tournament games, they have tallied 59 total assists and committed just 18 turnovers. That is what a “connected” group looks like.
Freshman sensation Cooper Flagg led the way against the Wildcats, finishing with 30 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Scheyer called it “one of the best Tournament performances I’ve ever coached or been a part of.” Flagg got help from fellow freshman and projected lottery pick Kon Knueppel, a 6-foot-7 wing, who pitched in 20 points, 3 assists and 4 rebounds.
Duke shared the ball tremendously well all game. The big men — 7-foot-2 freshman Khaman Maluach and 6-foot-11 freshman Patrick Ngongba II — caught multiple lobs for easy dunks. With just over four minutes remaining and Arizona mounting a comeback behind the brilliance of 6-foot-4 senior guard Caleb Love (35 points), Duke senior Sion James, a 6-foot-6 guard, buried perhaps the biggest shot of the night: a corner three off a terrific feed from Flagg to extend the lead to 89-79. “We play super well together,” Knueppel said. “Coop had 7 [assists] tonight, so he did a great job playmaking for us. We just all went to make the right play, find the open guy. That’s what we do.”
Of course, in the era of NIL and the transfer portal, that sort of connectivity is becoming harder to find. When the portal opened earlier this week, more than 750 players entered their names. The number continues to grow every day. Generally speaking, the more a roster fluctuates, the more its chemistry suffers.
Except with Duke.
The Blue Devils rank 268th in the country in KenPom’s continuity metric, which measures the percentage of a team’s returning minutes from the season prior. Their roster consists of six freshmen, four transfers and five returners (only one of whom logs more than 15 minutes per game). And yet, the chemistry of this squad shines — both on and off the court. The vibe in the Duke locker room is always lighthearted, upbeat and fun. Players crack jokes, take turns interviewing each other, discuss how to survive if stranded on a deserted island and do hilarious impressions of Scheyer.
The staff prioritized “fit” in constructing the roster and succeeded in more ways than one. “I think it’s going even better than we could have imagined in terms of the personalities,” Scheyer said. “We really tried to identify guys in the transfer portal that understood it wasn’t going to be about them scoring all the points or shooting all the shots, but it was about the fit. And with the fit, they could be really successful as well.”
According to senior Stanley Borden, a 7-foot center who has been with Duke his entire college career, the buy-in with this particular team has been impressive. “Our older guys, our middle guys, our younger guys — everyone meshes really well,” Borden tells Hoops HQ. “We have a lot of personalities, people from all over, but I think everyone loves basketball. I don’t know if it’s because we’re very transparent with each other, especially with on the court stuff, but people know what their roles are.”
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Spencer Hubbard, a 5-foot-8 senior guard, is in his fifth season with the Blue Devils. He says that the overall cohesiveness of this group is unique. “I’ve been lucky enough to be on teams throughout my time here where the locker room is just really good, and we have a lot of older guys and walk-ons and grad transfers who help the camaraderie in the locker room,” Hubbard tells Hoops HQ. “But this year, especially. I think it starts with Coop. When your best player doesn’t have an ego and eliminates all that from the jump, I think it makes everybody else do the same and just warm up. You see that on the court — guys just having fun, celebrating each other no matter what and just wanting to see each other succeed. The team has been special in that sense, for sure.”
Players are constantly together outside of team activities, whether they’re playing video games, watching movies or just hanging out. Proctor believes that the close bonds they have developed “100 percent” translate to the court. It certainly has appeared that way.
“I love every one of the guys,” Proctor tells Hoops HQ. “We all have such a special relationship off the court and I think that’s why when we get on the court we have so much respect for one another and want to compete at a high level.”
