Tag Archives: Trevon Duval

Duke Players Sign with Agents Before NBA Draft

June 20, 2018 Mark Watson

There is plenty of reason for Duke Basketball fans to tune into the NBA Draft which will be held at Barclays Center in New York tomorrow evening.

The draft will start at 7:00 with the Phoenix Suns on the board and it will not take long before we hear a Blue Devils name called.

In fact, five Duke Blue Devils are expected to go in the NBA Draft where the team is losing their entire starting lineup.

You may have seen in the news recently where Marvin Bagley III signed a deal with Puma. To do so, players have to have agents in place and in the case of Bagley, he has secured the services of Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management. Bagley is expected to be a big part of a Puma campaign to promote its brand. They recently signed his former high school teammate DeAndre Ayton while naming Jay-Z as president of Puma Basketball.

A player who is destined to go in the lottery with Bagley is Wendell Carter Jr. Carter has signed with Mike Seigal of Impact Sports Management.

Four year Duke standout Grayson Allen has signed with Mitch Nathan of CAA Sports. He is in good hands in that he represents NBA standouts, Karl Anthony-Towns and Victor Oladipo.

Gary Trent Jr. has signed with Daniell Cantor of FAME. She is one of the most accomplished female agents who has worked closely with David Falk. She most recently represented Malcolm Brogdon who played at Virginia and won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

Trevon Duval has inked with Raymond Brothers of IAM Sports. Among his clients are Markelle Fultz who was last season's top overall pick.

Duke currently has 20 players in the NBA and if all of last seasons roster players return, the program will have a record 25 guys in the league. Here is a link of the current players on that list.

Trevon Duval Declares for NBA Draft

April 4, 2018 Mark Watson

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke freshman guard Trevon Duval has announced that he will enter his name in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Duval is the 14th Duke freshman to declare for the NBA Draft. He joins a group that includes Corey Maggette (1999), Luol Deng (2004), Kyrie Irving (2011), Austin Rivers (2012), Jabari Parker (2014), Tyus Jones (2015), Jahlil Okafor (2015), Justise Winslow (2015), Brandon Ingram (2016), Jayson Tatum (2017),Harry Giles (2017), Frank Jackson (2017), and teammate Marvin Bagley III (2018).

Of the previous 12 Duke freshmen to declare for the draft before this season, 11 have been first-round selections, including nine lottery picks.

“We wish Trevon the very best,” said head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “He showed unbelievable improvement, especially at the end of the year. His athleticism and his ability to guard at the next level will help him. We know that great things will happen for Trevon as he embarks on his pro career and will be watching and supporting him every step of the way.”

Duval led Duke with 207 assists, fourth all-time by a Duke freshman. His average of 5.6 assists per game ranked third in the ACC, and is tied for the third-best mark in a season by a Duke freshman. The New Castle, Del., native had four games with 10 or more assists, and had five or more assists on 21 occasions. Duval averaged 10.3 points, reaching double figures 19 times, including a career-high 22 against Portland State.

“I loved my time here at Duke and I enjoyed every second of it,” said Duval. “I want to thank all of the Duke fans, thank each of my teammates – they’re all brothers to me, and each of the coaches that have helped me grow as a young man both on and off the court. I hope to be part of the Duke brotherhood the rest of my life.”

Duval turned it on late in the season, averaging 9.8 points and 7.2 assists in six postseason games. He scored 19 points with eight assists in the NCAA First Round win over Iona, and followed that with 20 points and six assists in the Elite Eight versus Kansas. His 4-of-5 effort from three-point range against Iona set a Duke freshman record for three-point accuracy in an NCAA Tournament game. The 11 assists he collected in Duke’s ACC Tournament win over Notre Dame were one shy of his career high.

Duke has produced at least one first-round NBA Draft pick in each of the last seven years. Coach K has mentored 35 first-round picks, including a draft-record 23 lottery selections. The Blue Devils matched a school record with four draft selections last season, including three first-rounds and two lottery picks.

Duke Basketball

Coach K, Grayson Allen, Trevon Duval Talk Win

March 15, 2018 Mark Watson

COACH KRZYZEWSKI: Well, we -- I'm happy with my team, you know? You bring a young team in here, and I thought our guys really handled their first NCAA game very well against a team that has a championship pedigree. You know, Tim's program is one of the best in the northeast and the Iona name in basketball is huge.

And they have a lot of older guys. Obviously, they can put five guards out there, which was tough for our zone to cover for a while in the first half. In the second half we did a much better job of it.

But defensively, we did make them take tough threes and they didn't shoot their normal 40 percent or so from three-point range.

But I thought my guys played well, and proud of them, and we're going to now play against another championship caliber team in Rhode Island.

Q. Grayson, what did you think about how -- your young teammates handled the situation the first time?
GRAYSON ALLEN: I thought they did a great job, mostly because I thought they came out aggressive and confident. I don't think we were nervous or overanxious because of the tournament atmosphere, I thought. We came out very well. We scored the ball to start the game and played hard and had to make an adjustment on defense because of Iona's defense.

This was a game, if we didn't come out like that and didn't come out hard, we could have been down seven, eight points from the get-go because of how they scored the ball. Really proud overall how they came out and just attacked right from the start.

Q. Just a question for Trevon. Could you talk about your emotions going to your first NCAA Tournament game?
TREVON DUVAL: Definitely a little nervous because it's my first NCAA Tournament. Overall, I was just excited and I was ready to play.

Q. Grayson, when you went through your first experience in the NCAA Tournament, what can you really remember from that and just the feeling of doing it as a freshman when you have all of these teammates?
GRAYSON ALLEN: My first role was a little bit different than what I'm telling to these guys, because I was not playing as much. And so my first one, really, I look at my sophomore year in a lot of ways, because that was the first one that I was, you know, fully into playing 30-some minutes a game, you know, you're part of someone else's game plan, whereas my freshman year I wasn't, so, just really trying --

COACH KRZYZEWSKI: Really trying to think that you weren't.

GRAYSON ALLEN: So just really trying to tell these guys -- like prepare them for the atmosphere being inside of it, versus being on the outside of it. Where last year, they were watching the games in high school, during the day, and now you're in it. So it can be easy to get distracted by who is playing who, who is beating who, what's the score going on here.

But if you just focus on today, Duke versus Iona, if we were able to focus on that, we come out and play well. We first focus on Duke, not Rhode Island, not focus on anything else. Not get distracted about anything else, we'll be all right.

Q. Grayson and Trevon, I know you probably haven't seen much film on Rhode Island, we have a lot of senior guards, a lot of experienced guards. What's your first take on all of their guards and back Court?
GRAYSON ALLEN: They're very experienced and their guards are very tough. We played against them last year, and I remember that game, their guards were very tough. They go at you both offensively and defensively, and they're a very experienced team. They have a pretty good amount of guys back from that team that I played, so it will be a very tough match-up because of how experienced they are and because they are a team that wins.

Q. In the first half, is it a matter of getting behind the zone when they're getting those baskets?
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: First of all, they average 80 points a game, so you're not talking about a team that doesn't score. They have eight guys that have scored 20 or more points in a game, and some guys have scored 30. One guy scored 40.

So, when they put five guys out there -- and it's not a conventional way of doing it, they actually put five guys out on the perimeter, and you have to talk and move a lot. Overall, I thought we did a good job against it, we had -- brought a 15-point lead and we took a couple bad shots. And that hurt us more than our defense.

And -- but my staff, Jeff, made a really good suggestion at halftime, and we went with it in how to change the zone just a little bit, and that worked for us. But they can shoot the ball. And that's the scariest thing for us going into the game. Because if we're tight a little bit, they start shooting like they did, you know -- it's one game, you get a shooter's chance. That's what Chris Collins used to always say to me.

Q. You know I can't let you get out of here without a Hurley question?
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: Which one?

Q. Obviously you're close with the family. What do you think it means for Danny to have his father be watching him and father be watching his son --
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: Yeah. We played at Seton Hall the game before we were in the Kentucky game and brother against brother. No, I love -- look, I love their family. When Bob was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame, he asked me to present him and I did. It was an honor to do that.

Their family epitomizes the highest level of love for the game. And the father, you're talking -- one of the great coaches. It doesn't matter what level. That's why he's in the Hall of Fame. And his two sons have learned a lot, learned a lot. And Danny's team -- yeah, he's built a -- he hasn't built a team, he's built a program there. You know, that's the difference. That's what you want to do is build a program that develops teams year after year, and he's done that at Rhode Island.

Q. Just to follow up on your thoughts about your guys making their debut in the NCAA --
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: Yeah.

Q. -- what's the biggest part, what's the biggest adjustment you have to make?
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: Do you have children?

Q. No?
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: See, you're missing out on that. What happens when you're 18 and 19, and you go into a new experience. That's what we've had to go through the whole year, you know, the first road game, the first conference game, the -- you know, the first 10:00 game, you know, all of those things. So this is a first for them.

And whereas Iona, their program's been in the last three years, so this is just nerves. We didn't have it today, but because you're a human being, you can have it. You can get jittery, you can get a little bit tight. That's what happens to people. And our guys didn't do that today which I'm really pleased about.

Q. What was the first experience you had personally in any NCAA game in any way, shape, or form?
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: It was '84 --

Q. No.
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: '84, we got messed over, in Washington. They undercut Johnny Dawkins on a last-second lob and didn't call it and Detlef Schrempf and those guys beat us. It's pretty for me to remember that.

But also, it's an honor to coach any NCAA game. You know, they don't -- we've been fortunate we've been in a lot of them, but I don't take any of them for granted. They are beautiful in any way and getting a win in an NCAA game is fantastic.

Q. Mike, how valuable is it if Trevon can consistently hit from the perimeter like he did today?
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: No, it's crazy good. He's worked on it, and I was proud of him after he hit the first one that he was aggressive and taking the others, you know, like -- wasn't like, oh, I'm happy. And -- but overall, the biggest thing, until the second half, when we had a bigger lead, he and Grayson had 17 assists and five turnovers. And then they messed around with a couple balls.

It probably should have been like 17-3, but if they can give us the floor game like that, and then, you know, he -- it would be nice if he hits that many. Just so he's a threat, and he is. So, that was a big boost for us.

Q. Now I'm blanking. What makes you most worried about Rhode Island match-up wise, with such experienced guards?
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: You're going to answer my question. My answer. Now, I don't know if I asked the question or you did. Anyway, let me start over.

Rhode Island, we played them last year early, up at Mohegan Sun, and they were a tough-minded group. And that's what Danny has built there. And they have -- they can put four guards out there, too. They can handle and shoot and they value the ball and play defense. So, we'll have to beat a really good team to advance, but that's -- look. We're not unlike the other teams in the tournament. Everybody in the tournament is good, but they are experienced good. Okay? Thank you.

Duke Basketball

10 Random Thoughts on Duke’s Comeback Win

January 16, 2018 Mark Watson

They did it again! Just when you thought the team was about to lose their third game of the season, Duke came alive. The Blue Devils uses an 18-0 run to shock Miami and snatch a key ACC road win. Without further ado, here is volume V of 10 Random Thoughts on Duke Basketball.

30 Point Efforts

No other team in the ACC has more than two players with 30 plus scoring games this season. Duke, on the other hand, has now had players go for 30 points or over in seven games. Last night it was Gary Tent Jr.s turn. After being sick the game before against Wake Forest and still playing well, Trent followed up that game with 30 points which included some big time three pointers. His effort helped Duke remain undefeated against teams in the current A.P. Top 25.

Comeback Artists

Trailing 66-53, Duke went on an 18-0 run and outscored Miami 27-4 over that stretch which sealed their fourth conference win. Gary Trent went 6 of 9 from three-point range, knocking down two consecutive trays to start the comeback. Trevon Duval also stepped up his game after struggling with turnovers early in the game and ended up having 8 assists. Duke has had a way of turning up their offense for spurts all season long. Quite simply, they are capable of staging major comebacks in just a few minutes or when the game looks to be in doubt.

Not to take anything away, but ...

The Blue Devils still need to find some consistency in many areas of the game. Firstly, they need to protect leads they build in the first half or leads in general. Duke also needs some work on their free throw game. They got away with going 10 of 21 from the charity stripe last evening and left a lot of points with misses of late. Then there is the need for a consistent effort and better shot selection not to mention a better understanding of man to man defense. Duke is young and learning. Once they take better shot and gain a killer instinct with the lead, they will be hard to beat. Just a little bit of improvement in the aforementioned areas could pay huge dividends.

A different role from Bagley

Well of course Marvin Bagley III got his 15 double-double on the season. And he tallied 13 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists by deferring to other Duke players at times. Last evening three other Duke players had more shots than Bagley. The talented freshman took another step in his development by allowing this to happen which translated to a win. And if Duke wins, Bagley will still remain the center of attention for many.

Wendell Carter went beast mode

When teammate Marvin Bagley went to the locker room with a shoulder injury, Carter played outstanding basketball. He was a machine on the boards where many of his game high 14 rebounds came early or in key times in the game. Carter is a double-double guy as well and he has pout together back to back games with the not so easy feat. Duke would be well served to make sure he continues to get touches moving forward for he is better when that happens as is the team. What people might miss is there is a timed development with players from the staff. They told Carter he would float outside for some shots to better that part of his game when recruiting him. They are keeping their promise. BTW, Carter has an insane stat line - 15 points, 14 rebounds, 4 blocked shots, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Allen continues to struggle with his shot

Sometimes players get in a shooting funk. That has been the case with all of the Duke backcourt players at times this season. It is scary to think how good Duke can be if all three are hitting on the same night. What Allen is doing is finding his way into the stat line and remaining the senior leader a team needs. Last evening he led Duke is steals with 5 and his effort towards the end of the half to get one and assist Trent for a 3 halted Miami's momentum.

That zone

I know there is a part of Mike Krzyzewski that hates going to a zone. But in the one and done era with limited teaching time with players, not to mention a top-heavy team with concern to minutes: it is necessary. And when Duke does go to that zone it seems to have a great effect to date. When they went to it last evening, the Hurricanes offense immediately struggled with the length and movement.

Bad Duval, good Duval

Trevon Duval got into some early foul trouble and had to sit. He needs to learn to harness his aggression in that Duke needs him on the court. He is the best option at his position hands down. I thought he was on his way to 8 turnovers like he had against NC State, but he flipped the switch and halted that. Instead of 8 turnovers he ended the game with 8 assists. And he was very efficient from the field going 7 of 11 and 2 of 2 from 3. There is no position like the point guard spot which makes mistakes stand out. Duval was good down the stretch and was a part of Duke not committing turnovers after a season high 19 during their 30-9 run to close out the game.

This and that

Duke has now had players garner 25 double-doubles on the season. Bagley is 2nd in the nation in double-doubles and 1st among freshmen players. Trent tied a Duke freshman record with six made three pointers. Coach K is now 1014-273 at Duke and has 1087 total wins.

Next up

Pitt will visit Cameron Indoor Stadium on Coach K Court this coming Saturday. That game will tip-off at 4:00 on ACC Network Extra. Duke should get both rest and good practice time this week. They should also be able to let injured players continue to mend against Pitt which s struggling while rebuilding their program.

Always check back for new 10 Random Thoughts on Duke Basketball. And take advantage of our special on Blue Devil Nation Premium where we double your membership through the month of January. Get two years for the price of one or one year for the price of six months.

Duke Basketball

10 Random Thoughts on Duke Basketball Vol. IV

January 11, 2018 Mark Watson

10 Random Thoughts on Duke Basketball - Trevon Duval (Val) Photo-Blue Devil Nation

Well, Duke got a much-needed road win over Pitt last evening. Here are my 10 random thoughts on Duke Basketball going into the next game.

Put the win to bed quickly, get to bed quickly

The Blue Devils impressive ACC road win over Pitt 87-52 cured many ills. I will take a look back as my random thoughts progress, but the most important thing for Duke to do is put this game to bed. Duke needs all the rest they can get before Saturdays high noon game with Wake Forest. And just mere hours later, they will board a flight for Miami in a critical road match up.

That is why Duke played their depth

Come on. You know it was fun to see Justin Robinson knocking down three pointers on his way to a career high. Duke got major minutes from its bench players last evening and it was by design. With games coming at a fast and furious pace, the Blue Devils need to rest their iron men starting rotation. With injuries to Marques Bolden and Javin DeLaurier, Duke was able to steal some minutes and develop its bench against an even younger than they are Pitt team. Those minutes will improve team camaraderie via involvement. The team will benefit from strategic resting of players legs in certain games in the long haul.

Double-doubles are the norm for Bagley III

How ridiculously spoiled we are for now expecting a double-double from Marvin Bagley III each time out. Last night he scored 16 points and pulled down 15 rebounds and he happens to lead the league in scoring and rebounding. If you are counting, that was his 13th double-double which puts him one game shy of the record held by Jabari Parker and Gene Banks. This young man is special.

Jabari Parker is set to return to the court for the Milwaukee Bucks in February.

Speaking of Jabari Parker

If you follow my Blue Devil Nation twitter feed, you saw where I retweeted video of former Duke player Jabari Parker moving well in the pre game for the Milwaukee Bucks. Parker is expected to return to the Bucks before the NBA All Star Break. Parker underwent his ACL surgery on Feb. 14, 2017, after tearing that ligament — for the second time in his career.

Vote Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, Brandon Ingram and other Duke players into the NBA AS game with some retweets

Staying on the NBA for a moment

How cool is it to see so many Mike Krzyzewski era Duke Blue Devils playing key roles in the league? I must admit to being a bit of a Boston Celtics fan now that Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum are both starting and tearing it up. But I like following Brandon Ingram and all the rest as well. Back to my twitter feed, you can vote Blue Devils into All Star game considerations with retweets. So, get at it!

Six double figure scorers

With every starter hitting double figure scoring and JRob's points off the bench -- Duke had six players in double figures for the first time this season.

Gary Trent Jr. had a sharp performance against Pitt.

I want to talk about Gary Trent Jr.

A shooter has to keep shooting even when their shot is off. But there have been some games this season when Trent Jr. IMHO, may have taken too many shots. We saw the best of Trent Jr. last evening where he allowed the game to come to him while getting other teammates involved. He looked for his teammates first and that led to his career high in assists. Trent then scored at will down the stretch after finding a balance or comfort zone. And do not overlook his 2 of the 11 Duke steals. He is a good defender capable of getting even better.

Don't overlook the positives

There has been a lot of talk about the Duke defense and for good reason. Until last evening and in select other games they have not been very good in that area. But don't overlook the positives with this team. Duke leads the nation in scoring at 93.5 ppg. Duke is 2nd in the nation in rebounding and close to the top in scoring margin of win.

And then there is Trevon Duval

It's Du-val. Think Val Kilmer. While many are figuring out how to pronounce his last name, Duval is quietly leading the ACC in assists. What burning minds want to know is if that 3 of 5 from the three-point line was a mirage. If he hits that shot at a 40% clip, his game would go through the roof. Of course, he was just over 16% going into last evenings win over Pitt.

And then there is Wake the snake

Will Duke allow for Wake Forest to slither into this game and challenge them in Cameron at high noon this Saturday? Wake had a six game winning streak after a slow start to the season and they took UNC down to the wire in Chapel Hill. They most recently lost to a good Virginia Tech team at home. Hidden in the stat line from that game is the fact they outrebounded their opponent by ten and connected on nine three-point shots. You cannot overlook them, but Duke certainly needs to come away from this game with a win. And then go to bed. Back to random thought number one here... Duke will fly all the way down south to Miami and be hit by the body shock of its warmer weather. The team will have about 50 hours in between the end of the Wake post game meal and their next opponent.

Stay tuned for the next 10 Random Thoughts on Duke Basketball coming next Tuesday after the game with Miami. One more thing, we are still doubling the time of premium memberships through January. You can get two years for the price of one or a full year for the six month price. Help support BlueDevilNation.Net by joining at this discounted rate --

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Duke Basketball

10 Random Thoughts on Duke Basketball

January 4, 2018 Mark Watson

It is time for the third installment of the season of 10 Random Thoughts on Duke Basketball.

Great crowds are not an automatic norm - It seems like a while since Duke has played but we must address how good the crowd was during the FSU game in Cameron. Even Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told the players they got their first true Cameron experience after a victory over a team shooting lights out.

Now, the odd thing here is that there were no cheerleaders or students to speak of, yet Cameron was at its loudest this season. It goes to show that spirit is often brought in more-so from fans who really want to see the team and rarely have the chance.

Duke will not play again in Cameron until January the 13th against Wake Forest. And the bar was set high for when the students come back to keep up a winning atmosphere. There are games when empty seats are found when the students are there, but Cameron was packed last Saturday and they need to find a way to keep the place full.

Next up, N.C. State - Yes, the Wolfpack was man handled by Notre Dame minus Bonzie Colson. Yes, Duke is the favorite. But the Pack has a way of playing their best against Duke no matter their record or national perspective. This will be the first time meeting between Kevin Keatts and Mike Krzyzewski in ACC play.

What will the Pack do? That's easy They will launch a ton of three-point shots. While streaky beyond the arc, that is how this team beat Arizona on a neutral court. The scouting report on Duke is that you must make your threes to win.

Duke should have an advantage in the paint - The dynamic duo of Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter Jr. has given Duke their best frontcourt ever under Krzyzewski. Yeah, I said it. But Omer Yurtseven and Abdul Malik-Abu will play well and try to make a name for themselves.

What I think Duke needs to do vs N.C. State - I am convinced that Duke will score the ball inside. But they will also need to hit their free throws. Some misses almost caught up to them in the win over FSU. Duke will also need to knock down a few threes while keeping the starters out of foul trouble early in the game. N.C. State and other schools play the name on the jersey and look forward to this match up and are therefore loose.

What does a player have to do? Marvin Bagley III won the ACC Rookie of the Week after his 32 point, 21 rebound stat line against the FSU. But I am not sure how that stat line and the significance of a key conference game kept him from player of the week as well.

After the Pack? Duke plays at Pitt on January 10th. Oh look! They also play them again just 10 days later in Cameron on January the 20th.

It's on now! After the game with Pitt, the breaks will be few and far between for Duke. They take on Wake 3 days later and then travel to Miami 2 days later. In short, the games will come quick now that conference season has started. When Duke tips off against the Pack in Raleigh on Saturday, they will have exactly 2 months before the ACC Tournament begins.

Duke loses Jordan Tucker - Transfers happen. Especially when players want to play right away and not willing to ride out the process. It is worth noting that Duke assistant coach Nolan Smith and many other stars past rode the bench in their freshman season.

We, of course, wish Tucker the best. At the same time, there is an appreciation for players who trust the process for many Blue Devils have become solid players in their junior and senior seasons.

I mentioned in the pre season that minutes would likely boil down to who won practice battles between Alex O'Connell and the aforementioned Tucker. I personally feel that O'Connell was a bit better prepared with his overall game to contribute.

The year to date and what is ahead - I mean, the team is ranked 2nd in the nation against a solid schedule and has perhaps the nations best player in Marvin Bagley III. Freshman starters Wendell Carter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., and Trevon Duval are playing older than they are. That, which Krzyzewski has stated, must continue.

Grayson Allen has become a leader and Duke has three good options off the bench and maybe even four. There have been no major injuries and the team likes each other and seems to have fun with the game.

So, not much to complain about. They are not perfect nor will they be and some more losses lie ahead. But plenty of wins do was well . The team can certainly win the league with some luck and make a deep run in March. I am certain their goal is the exact same one the fans have in mind. But take it one game at a time folks...one game at a time and enjoy the season.

Also - take advantage of our membership special by following the link on the front page. We have extended the discount through the month of January.