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Duke basketball observations from Blue Devils’ summer scrimmage ahead of 2024-25 season

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Duke basketball observations from Blue Devils’ summer scrimmage ahead of 2024-25 season

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Summer has arrived, and so has a Duke basketball highlight video. 

Fans of the Blue Devils can get an early look at the 2024-25 squad, which held its first summer scrimmage this week, on YouTube. The six-minute video was posted on Duke basketball’s channel on Friday night and, as of Saturday afternoon, has been viewed more than 24,000 times. 

Returning guards Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster will be joined by 10 newcomers on Jon Scheyer’s third team since taking over as head coach following Mike Krzyzewski’s retirement. 

Cooper Flagg headlines a six-player 2024 recruiting class and Scheyer added four veterans via the transfer portal, including Tulane’s Sion James, Purdue’s Mason Gillis and Syracuse’s Maliq Brown. 

“While I like the competition, the competition can even go up,” Scheyer said at the end of the video. “We’ll get better and better. I’m excited to be your coach.” 

Without the full flow of the scrimmage from start to finish, it’s hard to glean too much information from highlights.

But here are five observations from the first look at the 2024-25 Blue Devils. 

What were the Duke basketball lineups in the scrimmage? 

For starters, let’s look at the lineups for the blue and white teams in Duke’s highlight video. Duke’s season-opening lineup will likely feature a mix of players from both sides, but here’s what it looked like in the scrimmage. 

On the first tip off, the white team featured Tyrese Proctor, Sion James, Mason Gillis, Isaiah Evans and Khaman Maluach. The blue team featured Caleb Foster, Kon Knueppel, Maliq Brown, Cooper Flagg and Patrick Ngongba. 

Midway through the highlight video, there’s another jump ball at midcourt with Proctor, Foster, Evans, Brown and Maluach on the white team. Gillis, James, Knueppel, Flagg and Ngongba were featured on the blue team in the middle portion of the highlights.

There’s one more lineup change toward the end of the video. In the final portion of the scrimmage highlights, the blue team features: Proctor, Knueppel, Gillis, Flagg and Maluach. The white team features Foster, James, Evans, Brown and Ngongba. 

Darren Harris, who is recovering from surgery, wasn’t shown in the scrimmage. Rice transfer Cameron Sheffield, along with the other Blue Devils, were reserves. 

Duke basketball’s Caleb Foster looks fully recovered from ankle injury 

Caleb Foster missed the final nine games of his freshman season with a broken right ankle, but he looked fully recovered in the scrimmage highlights. The sophomore guard was in attack mode as a lead guard in transition and looked comfortable in the half-court offense, weaving his way around defenders to finish in the lane or find teammates. 

At one point in the video, the scoreboard is revealed with the score tied at 89-89 and 15.5 seconds on the clock. Brown inbounds the ball on the opposite end of the court to Foster, who gets it on the move and attacks Flagg in transition for a layup. On the next play, Foster blocks James and the buzzer sounds. 

Tulane transfer Sion James brings slashing, toughness for Blue Devils 

James uses every bit of his 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame in the scrimmage highlights. Knifing his way through the lane, James had several finishes through contact and over taller defenders at the rim. James’ most impressive highlight is shown on consecutive plays when he climbs to block Maluach and follows by swatting away Proctor’s shot. It’s clear James’ slashing ability and toughness will be quite the assets for the Blue Devils. 

Cooper Flagg shows off array of skills 

Cooper Flagg, the projected top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, showed off a little bit of everything in the video. He knocked down several 3s, displayed his skills in the open court and had a highlight that was shown twice from different angles. On a sideline out-of-bounds play, Flagg received the ball at the top of the key in an isolation situation. He drove past Maluach before finishing with a two-hand slam and a scream. 

Tyrese Proctor creating offense for himself, Blue Devils 

Tyrese Proctor is likely to continue his role as a captain for the Blue Devils. As Duke’s most experienced player and its primary playmaker, Proctor shows off that level of comfort with plays all over the court in the scrimmage video. On the first play of the highlights, Proctor is shown in a pick-and-roll action with Malauch, who receives a lob from Proctor and finishes the play with a dunk. Proctor is also shown knocking down 3s in transition and off the dribble, and drilling mid-range jumpers with some nifty footwork.

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter. 

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