High-flying Grayson Allen takes on veteran role for title-ready Duke

DURHAM, N.C. — Yes, Grayson Allen is still a Duke basketball player.

It might seem like ages ago that he terrorized Wisconsin in that national championship game, but, really, that was two seasons back.

But since he joined the Blue Devils in 2014, he has filled so many roles. Allen went from the seldom-used freshman guard-turned-title game savior to the undisputed face of the program and Duke’s leading scorer last season. He takes on a new challenge this year: a veteran leader of a freshman-laden team expected to contend for a national championship.

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Joining Allen and fellow designated old guys Amile Jefferson and Matt Jones is arguably the best freshman class in the country: four players ranked in the top 12 of the Class of 2016, per Rivals.com, led by Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum.

Much like two years ago — when Allen was part of a four-player freshman class headlined by Jahlil Okafor — Duke hopes its roster makeup can again find the perfect mix of elite freshman talent and upperclassmen secure in their own shoes.

“There are some similarities to two years ago — but one of the big differences is the upper-class leadership has accomplishment,” Duke associate head coach Jeff Capel says. “Two years ago, we embarked on the start of that season, the upperclassmen were Quinn Cook and Amile actually was a junior, and that was really it as far as the leadership of our team. Those guys hadn’t really done anything since they had been at Duke.”

In fact, that was one of the biggest motivations for Cook, then a senior. He had not put up a banner at Cameron Indoor Stadium. He’d been part of embarrassing first-round NCAA tournament exits, nothing close to the good kind of history here. But this year’s veteran group has.

“They were the guys that were on the floor that turned the game around against Wisconsin in the national championship game,” Capel says. “Those three guys were on the court when we were down nine. Their contribution to that game helped win a national championship. They have accomplishment. And all three of them have been in just about every role here in some way or another. They all went through periods where they didn’t play much early as freshmen. They’ve been starters. They battled injuries. They should be able to help our freshmen and our new guys in every way and to have empathy for everything and to understand what they’re going through.

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“Because they are secure, they understand and aren’t jealous of the freshmen’s talent. They aren’t jealous of their reputation. All they want to do is win, and I think when you have that, then you have the opportunity to create the type of chemistry that’s needed to hopefully become a championship team.”

Allen says the key to creating that right type of chemistry is confidence. He has been candid about his struggles in this area, back when he was a freshman playing few minutes off the bench, trying to figure out the college game.

“I’m going to try to keep the guys confident and make sure they keep an ego but keep a good ego,” Allen says. “What that means is the player you were in high school — bring that confidence you had in high school, bring that with you here. You’re going to have to adjust to the game, adjust to playing with a bunch of other really good players, but keep that same mentality that you had in high school.”

During his recruitment, Giles, who is 6-10 and the No. 2-ranked player in his class nationally, watched what Allen’s team was able to do two years ago to win it all. He liked that the elite freshmen weren’t concerned with putting up crazy individual stats; they just wanted to win.

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It was a huge draw.

“Some guys do that,” says Giles, who will miss the early portion of the season recovering from a knee injury. “They take the way, ‘I’m just going to worry about me. I’m going to be a star. I’m not really trying to win; I’m just trying to play, make sure I’m doing good.’ I’ve always been a team player. Always. I’m always going to have an assist on my stat book every night. I want to make sure that my teammates are involved, too. If we’re winning, everybody gets credit. That’s how I feel.”

There’s not some magic formula that Duke found in 2015 — or Kentucky found in 2012 — that takes a few extremely dynamic freshmen and results in a national title. Every team is different every year.

But because the Blue Devils retain some players involved in one of those special runs, they know how to speed up certain parts, like off-the-court team bonding and the introduction to college basketball’s level of physicality.

Allen and Jefferson, who was granted an extra year of eligibility after missing most of last season with a foot injury, have tried to set the tone during summer pickup games and workouts — they go hard at each other and laugh about it afterward.

“Physicality is definitely a big thing; you’re playing against a bunch of guys that are like you,” Allen says. “Basketball is what they want to do, so they play with passion, they play with aggression. The game is faster. That’s really what I’m trying to help them see. Whenever me or Amile are going hard in practice or going a little too hard in a drill or it seems like, ‘Wow, they might need to calm down.’ It’s just trying to prepare them for the season and the intensity we need.”

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It’s that kind of effort — and Allen is not the kind of player who would ever take a play or two off — that shows the value of veteran leadership. If even a smidgeon of that rubs off on the freshmen, it will have been worth it for Duke. And it might already be happening.

“We’ve got to play like this to get through some games and some places,” Giles says. “Grayson, he’s an animal every day. Every day. The coaches tell us back when he didn’t play he was still the same way. Just to see him bringing the same attitude, how he was then and now, it motivates you to just always get after it. He’s what makes you get after it every day.”

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