Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer uses one word to describe freshmen class

DURHAM – Duke basketball is set to return four of its five starters from a team that won an ACC Tournament championship.

Second-year coach Jon Scheyer knows what those Blue Devils, including Jeremy Roach and Kyle Filipowski, bring to a program that could be the preseason favorite to win the national championship in 2023-24.

As for Duke’s latest group of high-profile freshmen – Jared McCain, Caleb Foster, TJ Power and Sean Stewart –Scheyer reiterated one word to describe the rookie quartet.

“Our freshmen are very serious. It’s a very serious group,” Scheyer said Wednesday during a summer press conference inside the Bill Brill Media Room at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

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“They are very consistent with how they work. They’re on a mission. The two guards – Jared and Caleb – they’re in here all the time. They have what I like to call translatable games. There’s a lot of times, the way you play in high school doesn’t necessarily translate to the college game.

Scheyer went on to say that practice time against the likes of Filipowski, Roach, Mark Mitchell and Tyrese Proctor will aid that adjustment and push the rookies to new levels.

“I’ve been so impressed by their approach, their demeanor and their seriousness to get better every single day,” he said.

McCain is a 6-foot-3, 197-pound guard known for his ability to knock down shots as the top-ranked player out of California in the 2023 class, according to 247Sports. Fellow California native Caleb Foster is a bit bigger with a 6-foot-5, 197-pound frame as a scorer and facilitator.

Both will be competing for guard minutes with Roach and Proctor, but there could be more opportunities for guard-heavy lineups with Dereck Lively now in the NBA.

Power and Stewart bolster a frontcourt that will miss Lively’s rim protection and rebounding. The 6-foot-9, 216-pound Power has also shown he’s able to venture out to the perimeter as a shooter.

Stewart rounds out the group as a high-level rebounder at 6-foot-9, 227 pounds out of perennial power Montverde Academy, which has produced several Duke standouts.

“They’re some workhorses. They wanna learn, but they’re also in the gym every day. It’s not a time when somebody’s not in the gym. … They’re just hard workers,” said Roach, a senior captain.

“They want to learn, they wanna be sponges every day. They’re trying to learn as much as they can, quickly. I think they’re doing a great job.”

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

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke basketball: Jon Scheyer describes freshmen as 'serious' group