Duke basketball ‘plans’ to redshirt sophomore after absence from opener

The Duke basketball team ‘plans’ to redshirt a highly recruited sophomore. 

One of the biggest surprises after the Duke basketball season opener was sophomore guard Jaden Schutt, a former 4-star recruit, not seeing any playing time in the 92-54 victory over Dartmouth.

Jon Scheyer was cryptic in his response as to why Schutt did not play and never gave a specific reason as he wanted to keep the details private.

“He has a long journey ahead of him,” Scheyer said on Monday.

“Me and him have had some conversations and we are going to continue to do the best thing for him.”

Later that evening, Steve Wiseman of The News & Observer reported that the “plan” was for Schutt to redshirt this season after he played 14 games as a freshman and averaged 2.1 points per contest.

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Scheyer, in his media availability on Thursday, confirmed that report.

The Duke head coach explained that the 6-foot-4 guard had an injury in the fall which made him fall behind his teammates in the development process and approached Scheyer about redshirting and focusing on getting better as a player.

“He’s going to be a really good player here,” Scheyer explained.

“Things can change…things can happen and you need to be ready.”

Duke basketball guard not hiding from challenges

It was always difficult seeing Jaden Schutt carve out a role on this year’s Duke team because of how deep and talented the backcourt is with the return of Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor as well as the addition of freshmen Caleb Foster and Jared McCain.

However, it’s not changing the mindset or attitude of Schutt.

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“I came here to win a National Championship,” Schutt said at Duke’s media day.

“I’ve never left anything in my life. Never transferred. This is my team, this is my home.”

The Blue Devils have another talented recruiting class entering the program next season and it remains to be seen if the current freshmen guards will return for another season or enter the NBA Draft.