Duke basketball rookies were putting in work after an opening night victory.
A lot has been said throughout this offseason that the Duke basketball freshmen class loved to be in the gym and improving their games, but the public has not had the chance to see the behind the scenes work that the top ranked recruiting class has been putting in.
That changed late Monday night after the Blue Devils defeated Dartmouth in its season opener and rookies Jared McCain and TJ Power were back on the court inside Cameron Indoor Stadium hours after the final buzzer sounded.
McCain, who was the only freshman in the starting lineup for Duke, scored eight points on 3-of-7 shooting and 2-of-4 from 3-point range despite being limited to just 15 minutes on the floor because of foul trouble.
Power only saw eight minutes off the bench and did not score in his lone shot attempt from the field.
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Both players were woking on their 3-point shooting strokes following the 92-54 victory, which saw the Blue Devils make 7-of-17 attempts (41.2-percent) from beyond the arc.
Pretty neat post-game scene inside Cameron.
— Kate Rogerson (@KateRogersonTV) November 7, 2023
On one side of the court, TJ Power is shooting hoops with his dad. Jared McCain is doing the same thing on the other basket with his brother Jayce, a GA on Duke’s staff. pic.twitter.com/r2tHYnWo4K
Jared McCain and TJ Power were a combined 1-of-6 from distance in Duke’s exhibition game last week as the social media sensation missed both of his attempts while Power, who saw extended minutes in the preseason, was 1-of-4.
Duke basketball other freshmen shine in debuts
Caleb Foster and Sean Stewart, the other half of the Duke recruiting class, also made their debuts on Monday night and for Foster it was a memorable one as the team’s second leading scorer with 15 points and three rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting.
The 5-star guard saw extended minutes because of Jared McCain’s foul trouble and the one-sidedness of the game.
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It took longer for Sean Stewart to see time on the floor but made an immediate impact once he did.
Stewart finished with six points and five rebounds in just ten minutes.
No. 2 Duke (1-0) will host No. 12 Arizona (1-0) on Friday night (7:00p.m. EST, ESPN2).