Duke basketball freshman nearly named co-captain

The Duke basketball program nearly had a freshman named as a co-captain. 

There has not been a freshman named captain of the Duke basketball team in a very long time — perhaps ever — but that nearly changed a few weeks ago.

The Blue Devils voted on who the captains should be ahead of the 2023-24 season and Jeremy Roach, who was the only captain last season, is now joined by senior center Ryan Young and sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor in the position.

However, the three players revealed that they voted for a newbie to be put into the highly regard position.

“I might’ve thrown inJared [McCain], to be honest,” Young said on The Brotherhood Podcast after Roach and Proctor revealed that they both voted for the Northwestern transfer and each other.

“I think I threw Jared in there,” Proctor added.

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McCain comes to Duke as a 5-star prospect with the spotlight already on him not because of his incredible play on the court but due to his social media fame.

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The 6-foot-2 guard was listed as the No. 14 overall recruit in the Class of 2023, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, and was the highest ranked player of the Blue Devils’ 5-man recruiting class.

“It’s hard to put a freshman up there as a captain especially when we have these old guys so I didn’t know how much [Jon] Scheyer would take that into account,” Young added.

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“His work ethic, obviously. He’s here and pushes guys. But as much as he talks, you go down the roster and he’s a Top-4-or-5 guy in terms of just being vocal which is pretty impressive as a freshman.”

Jared McCain is likely to be the final starter for Duke on opening night, barring injuries, next to Jeremy Roach, Tyrese Proctor, Mark Mitchell, and Kyle Filipowski.

Duke opens the season on November 6 against Dartmouth.