Making the adjustment from high school basketball to the ACC is difficult. It is even harder trying to adapt as a shooting guard with an injured shooting hand.
Sophomore DeMarcus Nelson knows that all too well. During last year's Blue-White Scrimmage, the freshman ruptured a thumb ligament in his right hand and had to undergo surgery during the preseason. Although Nelson never missed any regular season games, he was forced to wear a splint early in the season that altered the way he held the ball.
As a result, the California high school points record-holder changed the mechanics of his shot, which led to his offensive woes.
"His injury hurt him a lot," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "When a freshman gets injured early, he's never able to establish his reference point."
The freshman averaged 6.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game-good enough to earn a spot on the ACC All-Freshman Team-but Nelson struggled shooting, converting just 53 percent of his free-throw attempts and 40 percent of his shots from the field.
Entering Duke as a McDonald's All-American and the nation's No. 17 prospect according to rivals.com, Nelson at times exhibited the potential that had made him such a heralded recruit, but struggled with consistency all season.
In Duke's win over North Carolina in Cameron Indoor Stadium Feb. 9, Nelson scored 16 points and was a perfect 2-for-2 from behind the arc and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. But in 24 minutes against N.C. State in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament, the shooting guard scored just four points on 1-for-5 shooting.
Nelson's father, Ron, said it was a very rough and frustrating year for his son.
"I'm back and I'm healthy, 100 percent," DeMarcus Nelson said. "Last year I was battling injury a lot. This summer I made sure I got the proper rest I needed and made sure I was healthy."
During the preseason this year, Nelson suffered a similar, but less severe, injury to his left hand, but Krzyzewski said the more mature sophomore was better prepared to cope with it and was back on the court the next day.
With a strong supporting cast, improved health and a year of experience under his belt, Nelson is in position to become the Blue Devils third option this season, complementing J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams, Krzyzewski said.
Taking hundreds of shots each day and viewing tape from his high school years, Nelson spent the summer working to restore the mechanics of the shot he used before his injury.
"During the summer, the coaches and I sat down and watched video of how I was shooting before I injured my hand and how I was shooting after," Nelson said. "I've been working to get back to the way I was shooting before I hurt my hand, then tweaking a couple things like my release point and my follow through. I still have a little hitch, but it's a lot more subtle. Last year I swung the ball, which was really noticeable."
Nelson's athleticism and strength gives him the ability to drive to the basket and slash down the lane-in the Blue-White game and Duke's first exhibition contest against Concordia, Nelson's aggressiveness led to 15 total free-throw attempts.
With Redick and Williams, both preseason All-Americans, drawing most of opponent's attention, Nelson will have many opportunities to showcase his explosiveness around the basket and improved shooting.
"There are going to be a lot of situations where teams double down on Shelden or double out on J.J., and that's going to give me wide-open situations where I have maybe one defender guarding me," Nelson said. "It's going to put me in a lot of scoring opportunities, which will make my game a lot easier."
Already this season Nelson has showcased his improved skills. In the Blue-White Scrimmage Oct. 22, the sophomore went 10-for-13 from the line, and in Duke's tune-up against Concordia College, Nelson shot 7-for-11 from the field.
The sophomore said he has refined his offensive repertoire, working to improve his floater and reverse layup to provide him with more options close to the basket.
"One of his greatest strengths is his athletic ability, he's really going to be a force in the paint and a strong finisher this year," assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "DeMarcus has done a great job for us and is going to be a key player for us this season."
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