Trio of Duke basketball stars one step closer to achieving their dreams

The trio of Duke basketball eligible draft participants is one step closer to achieving their dreams.

Tre Jones, Cassius Stanley, and Vernon Carey Jr. are three Duke basketball players who are unlike any others.

Typically, when players declare for the NBA Draft before completing their senior year, they are knee-deep into their first professional training camp by late-September.

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However, this is the year 2020, and nothing is normal or typical.

The three players are not in the NBA, nor are they student-athletes at Duke University.

In a broad sense of the term, they are unemployed former college students, like so many others as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, each of the three players is in the midst of job interviews as the virtual NBA Combine is officially underway.

Originally scheduled to take place in mid-May, the NBA moved its Draft Combine to late-September, and prospects are not allowed to meet with teams face-to-face, only virtually, plus on-court workouts even have to be done virtually as the only two players that can be in the gym for these workouts are the player and a coach/trainer.

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Seniors Jack White, Justin Robinson, and Javin DeLaurier did not get invited to the combine, but it is only DeLaurier who is still training for an NBA career as both White and Robinson have signed professional basketball contracts overseas.

What’s next for these former Duke basketball stars?

After the NBA Combine wraps up this week, with the absence of individual team workouts inside their facilities, the prospects will gear up for the virtual NBA Draft that will take place on November 18.

Following draft day, the players will be in another holding pattern as teams are unaware of when they will be allowed back in their facilities for workouts and training camp.

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All teams that did not qualify for the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida have already started a bubble of their own in the city in which the team is holding workouts and practices, but that is not expected to last into mid-November.

It’s been a long offseason for these college players, not seeing the court since early March, but in just a matter of weeks, Tre Jones, Cassius Stanley, and Vernon Carey Jr. will officially be NBA players.