The 2021-2022 Duke Men’s Basketball team took the court to give fans a glimpse of the players who will take the court in November in hopes of sending head coach Mike Krzyzewski off with a championship bang.
The night started with groups of diverse student dance clubs preforming routines that they worked on specifically for this occasion. Cameron Indoor Stadium, which welcomed fans for the first time since the end of the 2019-2020 regular season, was packed full of Crazies ecstatic about college hoops.
After the dance routines and a few basketball competitions, the men’s basketball team was announced – with players coming through the student section and onto the scorers table for all to view. Guys were they introduced, with songs they personally selected, before they broke into groups for two 12-minute intra-squad games. The first game ended in a 22-22 tie before White flexed its muscles in the second game and pulled away for a 34-14 victory.
While many were looking forward to seeing top prospect Paolo Banchero, it was freshman guard Trevor Keels who impressed the most. Keels led the Blue Devils with 19 points over both games, to go along with five rebounds and five assists.
“I think he’s a big-time player and I think he’s really good,” Coach K said after the event. “He’s easy to play with.”
Freshman phemon Paolo Banchero, who advocated for Keels to join him at Duke, said he’s doing what he’s seen him do since the two matched up against each other in the 8th grade.
“Ever since I saw him at USA and all the other camps, we always locked in and were tight,” Banchero said when asked about Keels’ night. “We both were being recruited by Duke and when I committed, Trev was a must-get. I don’t even like doing that, but for Trevor I had to step in and text him, because we need him and y’all saw why tonight.”
For both scrimmages, sophomore Mark Williams combined for a double-double with 15 points and 11 boards and sophomore Jeremy Roach led the way with eight assists.
“I thought it was just a great day for our Athletics Department, and Duke, to finally have thousands of people come together in Cameron,” said head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “It was just a great atmosphere. I thought our kids played hard, and pretty well. I was really pleased with the entire day.”
