The sophomore season for Duke basketball guard Caleb Foster did not go how anybody envisioned after a very impactful freshman year that got cut short due to injury.
After spending a handful of games in the starting lineup to begin the season, Foster was slowly transitioned from a role player off the bench, to on the fringe of the rotation, to not playing in a 33-point home victory.
It felt like the North Carolina native would not take the floor again in a Blue Devil uniform after registering a DNP in Duke’s 93-60 blowout against Wake Forest but was ready when called upon in the regular season finale against North Carolina.
After not playing in the first half, Jon Scheyer turned to Caleb Foster in the second half with Duke needing a spark and he delivered with two points, one rebound, assist, and block in nine minutes.
The Blue Devils outscored the Tar Heels by 13 when Foster was on the floor, leading to the 82-69 win.
“It was his response to that,” Scheyer said in Chapel Hill after his benching. “The majority of the time, if not all the time, guys can pout, quit, make an excuse, be pissed at me.”
“I’m sure he’s pissed at me. That’s fine, that’s good, I’m all for that.”
Foster had spent the better part of a month in ‘mop-up’ duty for Duke but played well in those minutes. He scored 12 points in the final seven minutes against Illinois and 10 points in 17 minutes against Miami. However, he had a clunker prior to his benching of four points in 15 minutes on 1-of-7 shooting against Florida State.
“He had such a competitiveness about him over the last couple of days,” Scheyer continued.
The Duke head coach explained that the team was missing what Caleb Foster could deliver when it trailed by seven points in the second half against the Tar Heels and he was correct.
“He’s got amazing character to do that.”
Perhaps it’s a sign of things to come for Duke that they could rely on its former highly recruiting guard to contribute off the bench in the postseason, something he didn’t experience as a freshman due to his season ending injury.
The Blue Devils will begin the ACC Tournament on Thursday afternoon (12:00 p.m. ET, ESPN) against either Georgia Tech or Virginia.