Duke Basketball: Top Offseason Priorities for Devils

With Tyus Jones’ announcement that he is entering the NBA draft, Duke now knows exactly where it stands next season. The program is still basking in the glow of its national championship victory just over a week ago, but it’s facing somewhat of a crisis heading into the summer.

Duke was able to cut down the nets despite ending the season with just eight scholarship players. The team is losing its top four scorers to early departure (Jones, Justise Winslow, Jahlil Okafor) or graduation (Quinn Cook).

Combine that with the Devils currently having only three incoming players (freshmen Chase Jeter, Luke Kennard, the just-committed Antonio Vrankovic and transfer Sean Obi), and Duke is looking at the possibility of opening next season with just eight men on scholarship.

Hopefully coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff will be able to fill some spots with late recruits and possibly a graduate transfer. If not, Duke could be looking at an after-championship drop-off similar to the one Connecticut faced this year, when it failed to make the Big Dance a year after winning it all.

If Duke wants to return to contention in 2015–16, the coaches will need to have a very successful offseason.

Get a Point Guard

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Point guard may be the most important position in college basketball, yet it seems like Duke is often without a true ball-handler/distributor. Whether it’s Jon Scheyer or Seth Curry running the point, the Devils have been able to manage relatively well without a player with the traditional skill set of a point guard, but it’s a gamble.

Duke flipped that narrative on its head this past season by starting and giving heavy minutes to both Jones and Cook, who established themselves as one of the best backcourts in the country. With their departures, Duke is left without any semblance of a player to run the team.

Of the guards who will return next season, Matt Jones is way closer to being a small forward than a point, and although Grayson Allen is a smooth ball-handler, he projects to be more of an aggressive scorer going forward than a deft passer.

Duke’s best chance at picking up a primary playmaker is probably convincing Derryck Thornton to reclassify into the class of 2015 and come to campus. ESPN currently ranks Thornton as the 11th-best player in the class of 2016, but the Duke staff has been in talks with him about suiting up next season. 

If Thornton elects to stay in high school, Duke will likely look to pick up a transfer who will be eligible next season, such as Villanova’s Dylan Ennis.

If Duke fails to pick up any point guards this summer, the coaching staff will need to get very creative in order to get the team’s offense running next season.

Get More Depth

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Even if Thornton reclassifies and commits to coming to Durham, the team would still have just nine scholarship players to start next season. That is one more than the Blue Devils just won a championship with, but next year’s team will not be nearly as talented and will need more depth.

The top target for Duke is Brandon Ingram, the 12th-ranked player in ESPN’s top 100 seniors. Ingram is a rangy small forward who has been compared to Kevin Durant due to his frame and game.

Like most highly ranked prep players do these days, Ingram seems to be waiting to see which players leave for the NBA before making his decision. Unfortunately for Duke, Ingram hails from the same hometown as former Tar Heels Jerry Stackhouse and Reggie Bullock, and Carolina is on his radar. He is also considering Kentucky, which is always a problem in recruiting.

Duke is also recruiting Jamal Murray, another candidate to reclassify into the class of 2015. Adding one or both of Murray and Ingram could really help bolster the lineup and help the Devils deal with losing so much production.

Establish Leadership

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While the three freshmen dazzled with their play all season, the biggest component to Duke’s success was Cook’s leadership and the underclassmen’s willingness to be led.

To match that success and chemistry, this team will need clear leadership. The most likely candidate to take over the team the way Cook did is Amile Jefferson. Jefferson has become a vocal player who plays his heart out every possession.

He willingly gave up minutes and statistics when Coach K went with the smaller lineup, and Duke would not have beaten Wisconsin if it were not for Jefferson's defense on Frank Kaminsky after Okafor got his fourth foul. That experience gives him great perspective, and hopefully the younger players will take his words to heart.

Marshall Plumlee and Matt Jones also need to step into leadership roles. Both are hard-nosed players who, along with Jefferson, have the potential to set the tone for next year’s group to be a gritty bunch.

Innovate Jersey Retirement

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Due to his individual excellence throughout the season and winning it all in April, Cook’s career will be remembered quite fondly by Duke fans. Cook was a McDonald’s All-American who struggled with consistency early in his career before ultimately becoming a star. That same sentence could also be used to describe none other than Nolan Smith, whom Cook grew up idolizing.

When Cook began his career, he chose to wear jersey No. 2, the same number Smith wore during his career, which included a national championship as a junior as well as being named ACC Player of the Year and a first-team All-American as a senior.

The two are so close that Smith was living with Cook in his off-campus apartment during the tournament while recovering from an ACL tear.

Because of their relationship and similar career paths, the two will always be connected in the memories of Duke fans, but the school should make it official by retiring No. 2 and doing it under both of their names.

Having both players get jerseys in the rafters would be a great way to celebrate not only their individual accomplishments, but also how their bond helped shaped the program over an eight-year period.

Cook and Smith both deserve to be immortalized, and this would be a great way for fans to remember them.