Duke basketball: The one NBA player Tre Jones can’t wait to guard

Could Duke basketball fans pick sides in the matchup Tre Jones craves most?

All in. No one doubted that Tre Jones was exactly that during his two-year Duke basketball stint. As a result of his dedication, the 6-foot-3, 185-pound point guard earned the title of ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore last season.

Now, Jones is likely to hear his name between the middle of the first round and early second on Oct. 16 after recently picking up an invite to the NBA Draft Combine (fellow outbound Blue Devils Cassius Stanley and Vernon Carey Jr. did as well). But wherever the Minnesota native is to end up, he made clear to ESPN draft analyst Mike Schmitz on Friday the one pro he most looks forward to locking up on the perimeter. Naturally, the 20-year-old couldn’t hide his grin when doing so:

“Obviously, to start off with, my brother. I’ve been battling with him in workouts and things like that for years — and then just looking up to him and picking up on everything I can in his game.”

His brother, of course, is 2015 Duke basketball national champ and current Memphis Grizzlies floor general Tyus Jones. Seeing that the elder brother has led the entire NBA in assist-turnover ratio across the past two seasons, well, the younger is sure to have his hands full in the steals department if and when they do cross paths in a game.

Yet putting aside the unmatched ball security of Tyus Jones, Tre Jones was quite straightforward in explaining to Schmitz just how great of a defender he intends to become:

“I want to be one of, if not the best defender on-ball in the league.”

In terms of his off-ball defense, though, as Jones pointed out to Schmitz — during the above 25-minute talk that included loads of insightful self-analysis from the Blue Devil while he watched some of his Duke film — part of his secret lies in his gridiron past:

“I played safety [growing up]. I wasn’t a big-time hitter, so I would just wait for a pass and try to go pick it off. I wasn’t that physical guy on the defensive end.”

ALSO READ: The 15 Duke hoopsters who could’ve starred in football

At the end of the interview, Jones reflected on his time in Durham and provided top-notch advice for kids (wouldn’t hurt adults to pay attention too):

“Something that I definitely did take away from everything that I learned at Duke was just to be all in…whatever you’re doing, wherever you’re at, and whatever organization you’re a part of, whatever it is, just be all in…if you’re one foot in, one foot out, you’re not going to get the most out of it, you’re team won’t get the most out of it, you won’t be your best self. So wherever you’re at, whatever you’re doing, just be all in…”

As for watching Jones vs. Jones next season…all in on that.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more news and views regarding all things Duke basketball.