It’s starting to feel like basketball season again in Durham.
Exactly a month before both Duke men’s and women’s basketball kick off their seasons Nov. 4, Blue Devil fans piled into Cameron Indoor Stadium for Duke’s annual Countdown to Craziness.
Unbridled excitement, eager anticipation and ceaseless joy always surround Blue Devil basketball’s premier preseason event. This year was no different. With the additions of numerous highly-touted recruits and both head coaches now multiple years into their tenures, thousands of adoring fans and Cameron Crazies came out in full swing for a glimpse of what promises to be a remarkable 2024-25 season.
Women’s scrimmage
The women’s team kicked off the event, the first chance to see Kara Lawson’s unit in action since the team’s Sweet 16 exit to UConn. However, in a change to year’s past, Duke women’s basketball did not split up to play against itself. Instead, fans were treated to an exhibition between the Blue Devil women and the practice squad, a team of talented male students who help train Lawson’s squad.
The women won the tip before opening the scoring with a deep Ashlon Jackson three. Jackson immediately followed that up with a midrange make, showcasing her shotmaking abilities to the tune of eight first-half points.
The start of the game went back and forth, with both teams scoring at a consistent level and trading buckets throughout the opening period. Ultimately though, Duke’s superior speed in transition, vision and playmaking ability led it to take an early 15-8 lead. After the men responded with a couple quick steals and points in transition, Vanessa de Jesus swished a three through the net just as the first half expired, and the Blue Devils went into the break with an 18-12 lead.
Much had been made of how the Blue Devils lack a true center, especially following freshman Arianna Roberson’s season-ending injury. While Duke did consistently out-rebound the practice squad, capitalizing on several second-chance opportunities, Lawson’s unit noticeably lacked an interior presence defensively in the first half. Whether and how Lawson solves this problem could be the key to the Blue Devils’ success in her fifth year in Durham.
Reigan Richardson, the team’s leading scorer last term, opened the second half with a quick two, before a steal by Taina Mair led to a Blue Devil bucket in transition. Duke fully asserted its dominance after junior Emma Koabel converted on a wide open 3-point attempt, extending the team’s lead to 11.
Duke’s second-half excellence was led by a stifling defense. The Blue Devils regularly stripped the practice squad of the ball and contested nearly every shot. On offense, Duke's superior ball movement led to numerous uncontested opportunities, which the Blue Devils converted with ruthless efficiency.
In the end, the contest was a blowout, with only a few garbage-time buckets preventing the women from doubling the men’s points total. When the buzzer expired, Duke women’s basketball exited the court with a commanding 36-22 victory.
Men’s scrimmage
More than six months after its disappointing Elite Eight loss to N.C. State, Duke took the floor for its first public event of the 2024-25 season, and it did not disappoint. Whether it was towering freshman Khaman Maluach emerging onto the court with a South Sudanese flag draped around his shoulders, the deafening noise when freshman phenom Cooper Flagg was announced to the crowd or senior Stanley Borden’s scintillating performance on the piano, the player introductions had it all.
But once the music stopped, the dancing came to an end and the players took off their warm-up attire, the basketball took center stage.
The Blue team’s starters consisted of Kon Knueppel, Caleb Foster, Mason Gillis, Maliq Brown and Darren Harris, and the White team trotted out Cooper Flagg, Isaiah Evans, Khaman Maluach, Tyrese Proctor and Sion James.
The first few minutes were slow, with neither team converting on early shots until freshman guard Darren Harris opened the scoring with a corner three. After a 3-point make from freshman Kon Knueppel extended the Blue team’s lead to six, junior captain Tyrese Proctor converted on consecutive free throws to put the White team on the board. Then, following a Sion James three, Flagg made his much-anticipated first basket on a running floater to give the white team its first lead.
The Countdown scrimmage always surprises fans with its intensity, and this time around was no different. Both sides committed to playing excellent defense and pursuing every loose ball with incredible urgency.
“It didn’t surprise me to be honest,” Maluach said of the game’s intensity. “That’s how all our practices are. We compete at practices, so it didn’t surprise me to see [intensity] because that’s how we play at practice.”
With less than five minutes left in the first half, the Blue team held an 8-7 lead. A steal for the White team led to wide-open Isaiah Evans 3-point attempt, which the Fayetteville, N.C., native promptly converted. A brilliant play from the White team allowed Proctor to penetrate the defense before elegantly dishing the ball to Evans, who fiercely finished at the rim with a powerful two-handed slam.
Despite the intensity, the scrimmage was not without some sloppy play. With 11 new faces on the roster, the Blue Devils are still getting to know each other; their chemistry should only grow as the season progresses. Limiting poor passes, silly turnovers and missed free throws will definitely be head coach Jon Scheyer’s priority before the season starts.
As the first half came to a close, the talent of Scheyer’s freshman class began to emerge. Evans continued his hot streak when his three bounced off the rim and into the basket, giving him a game-high eight points at the half. Then, Flagg converted a contested layup at the rim, and Knueppel smoothly knocked down a corner three to tie the game. After a James three, the White team led 20-17 at the break.
The start to the second period saw several players switch teams and the score reset. Maluach and James switched to the Blue team while Knueppel and Brown moved to White. Foster and Maluach combined early as the South Sudanese star emphatically dunked at the rim. The Blue team began to assert its advantage before Flagg scored four consecutive points. He made the most of a second-chance opportunity and then converted on a reverse dunk in transition.
With the Blue team leading 8-4, Maluach showcased his versatility and bounced a three in off the backboard, before Proctor answered with a deep make of his own. Both Foster and Neal Begovich made threes to give the Blue team a commanding 10-point lead, which it only continued to extend as the scrimmage’s dying minutes ticked by.
After a flurry of scoring to end the night, the second contest ended with a 37-21 victory by the Blue team. Overall, Scheyer will be pleased with how his team competed. Each of the five freshmen who played Friday stood out in unique ways: Knueppel and Harris showcased their impressive shotmaking ability, Maluach jumped out of the gym with his athleticism and Evans displayed the elite scoring he is known for, finishing the night with an impressive 15 points.
Flagg — the most anticipated of them all — put up 13 points on the night, a strong performance with limited touches. Flagg’s “silent” productivity is something to look out for this season. Even when it seems like the Newport, Maine, native isn’t having his best night, he can still put up consistent production on both sides of the floor.
“I think I have a lot to learn,” Flagg said after the scrimmage. “I think the first experience playing in Cameron, playing in front of fans, it’s not something you can teach, not something you can expect. So just getting that experience was [important].”
The team’s potential is staggering, and despite a few sloppy moments, Scheyer’s men look poised to take on whatever this new season has to offer. If there’s one thing to take away from Countdown to Craziness, it’s that the 2024-25 Duke men’s basketball team looks special.
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Rodrigo Amare is a Trinity sophomore and assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.