By: Ben McCormick
November 6, 2022
The seventh-ranked Blue Devils will take on the Jacksonville Dolphins tomorrow, Monday Nov. 7, in Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first regular season game of the 2022-2023 season.
The game will also serve as the first official game of Jon Scheyer's tenure as head coach—although it will not be his first game as acting head coach. His first career win came in a 83-82 win over Boston College in January of the 2020-2021 season. A game in which he filled in for Mike Krzyzewski who had to miss the game due to COVID close-contact tracing. He added another win last season at home over Wake Forest 76-74 after a game winner by Mark Williams. Scheyer, who is 2-0 on his career as active head coach will assume the role on the sidelines for an entire season this time.
Injuries/Updates
According to The Athletics' Brendan Marks, Dereck Lively II's status is "day-to-day with a calf injury". He goes on to say Scheyer was hoping to get Lively into 5-on-5 action this weekend, but it is unclear if this happened. All this to say, Lively's status for Monday night has not yet been determined.
I would wager that Lively will not make his debut Monday night, but if he does it will not be as a starter and will be in limited minutes. The coaching staff may want to get him on the court for a few minutes against Jacksonville and in next Friday's matchup with USC Upstate so he is ready for the Nov. 15 matchup with No. 5 Kansas.
Fellow star-studded freshman Dariq Whitehead is also battling back from injury. Unlike Lively, there is no chance Blue Devil fans will get to watch Whitehead's debut on Monday. After last Wednesday's exhibition versus Fayetteville State, Scheyer told the press that Whitehead was "still a couple weeks away". Although that timetable would make it possible for a return against Kansas, I wouldn't get my hopes up quite yet until there is a more optimistic news on his return.
How good is Jacksonville?
The Dolphins finished last season 21-10 after first-year head coach Jordan Mincy took them to the Atlantic Sun Conference championship game in which they lost to Bellarmine. Due to NCAA rules, Bellarmine was not allowed to participate in the NCAA tournament, having not eclipsed the required four years in division one before a school can play in the tourney (a rule I do not agree with I might add). Despite this, the Dolphins who placed second in the tournament were still not picked to go to the big dance, instead the regular season champion Jacksonville State went dancing.
Scorned from coming so close to the dance and falling short, the Dolphins are coming back this season hungry. The Dolphins were picked to finish second in the ASUN preseason, behind only Liberty. Jacksonville returns reigning first-team All-ASUN guard, senior Kevion Nolan who averaged 13.9 PPG, 4.0 APG, and 1.4 SPG a season ago.
What to look for from Duke?
I would expect Duke to put forward the same starters as they did in the team's exhibition versus Fayetteville State: PG- Jeremy Roach, SG- Tyrese Proctor, SF- Mark Mitchell, PF- Kyle Filipowski, C- Ryan Young.
All five of these players will play major roles on Monday for Duke. Jacob Grandison was the leading scorer off the bench in Duke's exhibition with 17 points, expect him to play big minutes as well. Sophomore guard Jaylen Blakes will act as the team's seventh man. Blakes scored 12 points against FSU and showed fantastic defensive effort. Freshman guard Jaden Schutt should see minutes throughout the game as well.
Unlike FSU, Jacksonville has some size, including 6'11 junior Mike Marsh who averaged 8.7 PPG and 5.4 RPG last season. Their size will make it more difficult for the Blue Devils defensively inside, especially if they are without Lively.
Another thing to look out for is whether freshman big Christian Reeves will play for Duke. His defensive length would make him an ideal stand-in for Lively, but he had been regarded as an intended redshirt for this season. However, after a strong showing in the team's blue/white scrimmage at Countdown to Craziness, Scheyer said a decision on Reeves status had not yet been made. So, Reeves' status is definitely something to look out for. He played and scored two points in the team's exhibition.
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