Durham Reporter

Duke doesn’t rebuild. It reloads.

The perennial college basketball power is once again aiming for success in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the NCAA. The 2019-20 season ended without a champion being crowned as play was stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic spreading across the country.

The Blue Devils return five letter winners from a 25-6 team that finished in a three-way tie for second in the ACC with a 15-5 conference mark. They ended the season ranked eighth in the final Coaches Poll, 11th by the AP.

Jalen Johnson | Duke University

Duke added six freshmen this season and boast a recruiting class ranked second in the nation by ESPN.

Head coach Mike Krzyzewski, in his 41st season at Duke, said the Blue Devils will play a very up-tempo game. He said it’s a deep squad with many players able to contribute.

Krzyzewski, speaking at the team’s Oct. 28 preseason press conference, said the coronavirus pandemic has provided a surprising bonus.

"Actually, to be quite frank, I think we're prepared better than we usually are because our kids have been in a bubble,” he said. “The extra time, even from going from four hours a week to eight hours for a couple weeks and now to the regular 20-hour week, and not having any guys injured or sick — they've gotten a lot of individual instruction because they're kind of in their own bubble. Most of their classes are remote. They've become really close as a unit, and then it's just a matter of how long can you maintain that without having any outside competition.”

But Krzyzewski admitted this season will surely have some surprises in store.

“In other words, we'll have to navigate. What happens if games are canceled? I saw where the Gavitt Games were canceled today or last night and the MTEs (multi-team events) in Orlando — things that I think we should've anticipated happening when people were trying to put this thing together and how it could be done for safety and also for the best possible season,” he said. “But we continue to change week to week and we're going to have to navigate that because that's the landscape that we're in … Hopefully, by the time we do play, there will be national protocols medically so that everyone who's playing against one another will be under the same medical protocols, which I think are essential to the safety of these kids. We're good. Our guys are good. They all want to play and we've got to make sure that there's a safe environment and they have an opportunity to play.”

Assistant head coach Nate James, a former Duke star now in his 15th season on the Blue Devil staff, said highly touted 6-9 freshman small forward Jalen Johnson has a huge upside.

“Especially in the open floor, he can really get out in transition. [He's a] big time athlete and his passing ability — I haven’t seen too many guys, and I’ve obviously been here at Duke and have seen some pretty good players,” James said at the press conference. “He can really see and find his teammates and he loves doing it. Offensively, in terms of his shooting and being aggressive, he’s really a pass-first player and I think we're trying to get him to understand, 'When teams play off you, have confidence to shoot your jump shot. If you have that mismatch, whether it be a four guarding you or a five, use your ball handling and playmaking ability.' He's starting to do that."

Sophomore wingman Wendell Moore, like Johnson a preseason All-ACC choice, is impressive on and off the court, James said.

"Absolutely. First and foremost, Wendell is a sharp young man and is very in-tuned with what's going on,” he said. “Obviously, everything that has happened and is continuing to happen with all the injustices that Black people face, that makes people want to come together, want to find out solutions, want to figure out how we can all get better and get better together. I think that really sparked some things in him wanting to show that leadership, bring his community together, being one of the people to spearhead different meetings and just wanting to make sure his voice was heard.”

In an era of one-and-done college stars, Moore is an exception. That will benefit him and the Blue Devils, James predicts.

“Normally, guys like Wendell, they're only around for a year, but now to see a talented player come back, now he's becoming a man, he's a sophomore and you hear the voice,” he said. “All the things that we try to instill in him as coaches, everything that Coach K talks to him about — you hear him talk in the locker room or he's on the floor and you're like, 'OK, this kid is starting to get it.' All of you who have kids, as parents, when your kid starts to get it, some of those tough lessons, it just makes you feel good. That's what Wendell is and he's going to continue to grow as a leader and because of that, his game has taken off. We're really excited to see that. I'm very proud of him.”

At the press conference, Moore said he is adapting to a leadership role.

“I would probably say normally I would have led more by example, but now since our team is so young, including myself — we have seven new faces — it's kind of forced me to become more of a vocal leader,” he said. “Since I've been around for two years, I kind of know what kind of things are going on, so anytime I get a chance to help the younger guys and Pat [Tapé] — being an older guy but he's still young to the program — anytime I get a chance to help them, I'm just doing anything I can to make their transition smooth."

Coach K termed his 2019-20 team “old-fashioned” but wasn’t ready to use the same phrase this season.

“I don't know what old-fashioned means anymore. These kids are really together and we're athletic,” he said. “We're young. We don't have as much separation from one to 11, but we're getting more. They're making each other better. There's competition, because when you go five-on-five, you're going against five other good players.”

Krzyzewski, 73, has coached for 45 years and won five national titles at Duke in 12 Final Four appearances, along with 15 ACC tourney titles and 12 conference regular season crowns. He is the only Division I men’s basketball coach to have won 1,000 games, with a career mark of 1,157 wins and 350 losses.