Duke's Surprise Coaching Announcement Sparks Strong Fan Reaction
While the team is losing a cornerstone player in freshman phenom Cooper Flagg, who's projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, the Blue Devils are also reloading.
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With the No. 2 recruiting class in the country, Duke is adding five-star power forward Cameron Boozer, his brother, four-star point guard Cayden Boozer, four-star power forward Nikolas Khamenia, and small forward Cedric Coward, a four-star transfer from Washington State.
And if that weren't enough, Duke is also bolstering its coaching staff after announcing the hire of Evan Bradds.
The 31-year-old assistant coach had a decorated college career at Belmont that included two AP honorable mention All-American honors, two OVC Player of the Year awards, and two All-OVC first-team selections.
Bradds has spent seven seasons as an NBA assistant — five with the Boston Celtics (2018-2022) and two with the Utah Jazz (2022-2024).
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'I am honored to be joining the Duke Basketball program and want to express my immense gratitude to coach Jon Scheyer for this opportunity,' Bradds said. 'I am looking forward to working alongside coach Scheyer and the Duke team to help continue the long-standing tradition that is Duke Basketball.'
The hire caught the attention of several people on social media, notably ESPN college insider Pete Thamel.
'An interesting hire from Duke from the NBA,' he wrote. 'Shows how college basketball is changing, as player development and schematics are trumping recruiting backgrounds for blue blood schools. Bradds comes well regarded after running the Jazz player development program.'
Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer reaches for the fans during Countdown to Craziness at Cameron Indoor Stadium.Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images
Thamel wasn't the only who was surprised by Duke's outside-the-box hire.
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'We may be on the only college program that can get an NBA assistant coach to come down to college,' one fan replied.
'Interesting to go with an NBA guy for the open spot. Would seem to be a hire geared towards player development and analytics (two areas in which the NBA is significantly ahead of CBB) rather than recruiting,' another pointed out.
'Great hire, this is why Duke continues to bring in the best talent, it's all about player development here,' a third fan stated.
'Duke was ahead of the curve when they hired Rachel Baker as their GM - effectively took a branding expert at Nike for NIL reason (brilliant) Now, this hire. Leaning into player development more. Good hire imo. Scheyer is smart,' remarked one user.
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'ELITE Hire. Jon Scheyer the mastermind 🔥,' another user exclaimed.
Related: Duke's Jon Scheyer Assigns Blame After Final Four Loss to Houston
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