Jeremy Roach says he 'wanted to stay' with the Duke basketball team for final season
The Duke basketball program saw nearly its entire roster turnover this offseason after the team fell one game shy of the Final Four, but one standout player didn't necessarily want to leave Durham.
Jeremy Roach, a two-time captain and senior leader of the Blue Devils, had one year remaining in his college eligibility and elected to enter his name into the transfer portal and commit to Baylor in late April.
Many foresaw what was coming with Roach shortly after the Duke season ended but the guard got to tell his side of the breakup on The Field of 68.
"It was kind of like a mutual thing," Roach told Jeff Goodman.
"Personally, I wanted to stay, but stuff didn't meet up."
Jeremy Roach averaged 14.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists last season moving over to shooting guard while connecting on 46.8-percent of his shots and 42.9-percent from 3-point range -- both of which were career best numbers.
"It was just my time to go," he continued. "I did my four years. I sacrificed a whole lot in that four years and I made the most of it."
Roach experienced seasons at Duke that no other player has, such as missing the NCAA Tournament during a COVID plagued season in 2020-21 and making the Final Four in Mike Krzyzewski's final season a year later.
"It was no hard feelings or anything like that," Roach said of his departure from the Blue Devils. "It was all cool."
Jeremy Roach said that he still stays in contact with the coaching staff despite his Baylor career beginning.
However, the interview took a turn when Roach was asked about what position he would be playing at Baylor this season after spending time as a shooting guard with Duke.
"I'm gonna let the whole world know right now. I'm not a two. I'm not a three. I'm not a scoring guard. I'm a point guard," he stated.
"Cut all the two-guard [talk]. That's just what I had to do at Duke. Right now, I'm a point guard, and it's great to get back to what I do."
The two players Duke kept on its roster from last season were guards Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster.
Proctor was the primary point guard last season while Foster typically filled a shooting guard role off the bench. The two players are expected to remain at their positions for the upcoming year, although Foster will be in the starting lineup on a permanent basis.
"It's no shade at Duke or anything...I, for sure, made the most of what I did out there and I loved every minute of it for sure. That's still always going to be home."