Freshman Jared McCain of Duke basketball has been somewhat cold as a shooter lately, but he is now leading the No. 9 Blue Devils (18-5, 9-3 ACC) with 47 makes beyond the arc. He is 5-for-22 from 3-point range in the last four games, including a 1-for-8 performance in Saturday’s 80-65 victory at home over Boston College (13-10, 4-8 ACC), which is rated lower.
Fear not—the 6-foot-3, 195-pound starting guard from downtown more than makes up for his lack of shooting ability with his skills on the glass. McCain has led Duke with ten rebounds or more in three of the team’s last four games, including three offensive rebounds against the Eagles in addition to his total of ten rebounds.
The former five-star McDonald’s All-American from California had shown flashes of his rebounding prowess in high school and earlier this season, as he recorded double-digit boards twice as a Blue Devil before this latest streak.
However, it appears that McCain’s now-unquestionable talent for figuring out where to position himself to outrebound much larger opponents has led to Jon Scheyer, the head coach of Duke basketball in his second year, changing the 19-year-old’s job in at least one scenario.
McCain added 11 points and five assists without committing a turnover on Saturday. “These past two games, [Scheyer] allowed me to go to the offensive boards, so I was happy,” McCain said in the locker room following the game. “I usually just kind of roam around and grab some rebounds while guarding someone who doesn’t really crash.”
It seems like a talent I possess that I simply enjoy using. It seems like it just takes work.”
Scheyer is aware of such endeavour.
“Jared has got a great nose for the ball,” he said. “So, mixing him up getting in there is a big deal.”
With an average of 12.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.0 steals, McCain has undoubtedly made an impression as a go-to leader and joined the race for ACC Rookie of the Year.
He said, “Especially coming in as a freshman, you don’t want to try and step on people’s toes because, obviously, there’s leaders [already] here,” to Blue Devil Country on SI.com (the interview is shown in the link above). But as of right now, I think my confidence is growing. They also believe that I will give them accurate advice.
“It seems like I’ve played a lot of these games lately, so I can just tell them what I see—what we all see. On the court, there are a lot of leaders. That’s what will set us apart.”
