“He was able to give me the confidence": Duke’s Jared McCain credits HC Jon Scheyer for honing his skills as a player
Duke's 6-foot-2 guard, Jared McCain, is a top prospect in the 2024 NBA draft. He declared for the draft after his one-and-done season with the Blue Devils, wherein he became a key player later in the 2023-24 season.
On The Ringer NBA Show, McCain talked about Jon Scheyer, Duke's head coach, who helped him improve his performance as the season went by.
"And I kinda knew, going into freshman year, you're going to have ups and downs," McCain said. "You got to just be ready for it and when it happened, it was still depressing because obviously, you put the work in. You want to succeed at that level and you feel like you can and then when it doesn't work out, you're just like, 'Damn. what am I doing wrong?'
"So it just kind of took a lot of, you know, looking internally, like, what am I doing like I just got to keep working, keep going and coach Scheyer pull me aside. We talked a lot throughout the season. He was able to give me the confidence to just keep going. I knew it was going to click at one point. I knew the work was going to work." [00:04:30]
A five-star prospect in the class of 2023, McCain started his collegiate career with an average of 7.6 points and 7.3 shots in the first eight games. However, he improved in the later stages of the season, averaging around 16.2 points on 11.5 shots in the rest of the games while shooting 56.0% from the court and making it to the ACC All-Rookie team.
At the end of the season, he averaged 14.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, and 1.9 apg. Moreover, he was 46.2% from the court, 41.4% from beyond the arc, and 88.5% from the free throw line. His career-high 35 points came against Florida State when he tied the Duke freshman record with Zion Williamson.
Jared McCain, an efficient shooter, also told Ringer NBA about the players he compares himself to.
"All-Star wise, you know, Steph Curry, Jalen Brunson of course, but I feel like I watched a lot of just Kyrie Irving, CJ McCollum, Fred VanVleet, Malcolm Brogdon, Bruce Brown," McCain said.
After having a great start to his collegiate career and the love he received from Duke fans, it wasn't easy for him to announce the decision to leave them this early.
“I love — I love — Duke,” McCain said (via The News & Observer). “I mean, that was the best year of my life. I’ve said it a lot but I loved it. So it was a tough decision to leave Duke. But it was the best decision for me and my career.”
Where is Jared McCain projected to be picked ahead of the 2024 NBA draft?
Jared McCain is projected to be picked in the first round as per many mock drafts. Kyle Boone of CBS Sports has him picked at No. 15 by the Philadelphia 76ers, while Gary Parrish has the Miami Heat picking him as the No. 15 pick.
According to the latest mock draft by ESPN, McCain will end up with the 76ers as a No. 16 pick. His style of playing, wherein he creates spaces by going off two, is the most attractive thing about him and potentially for the 76ers. He can be a good replacement or a backup for Joel Embiid, who is entering his 30s.