Duke hires former player Will Avery as assistant coach

Jon Scheyer and the Duke men’s basketball program have added a new assistant to the coaching staff, but it’s a familiar face. Former Duke star Will Avery will be an assistant coach for the Blue Devils starting in 2023-24, the school announced on Friday.

Avery has been around the program in various roles for the past four seasons as he completed his Duke degree. He had originally left the school after his sophomore season to go to the NBA Draft, one of the first Duke players to do so under Mike Krzyzewski.

“I’m extremely honored and excited to be a part of Coach Scheyer’s staff,” Avery said in a release announcing his hire. “Duke, our fans, and the city of Durham has held a special place in my heart since I was a teenager. Duke is family, and I feel at home. I want to thank Coach K for giving me a role in the basketball program four years ago and I’m very grateful for Coach Scheyer giving me the opportunity to begin my coaching career at Duke.”

Avery played for the Blue Devils from 1997 to 1999. In his second, sophomore season, the Blue Devils finished the season as national runners up.

After a sophomore season where he averaged nearly 15 points per game and shot better than 41% from 3, Avery was selected No. 14 overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1999 NBA Draft. He’d play 142 NBA games before continue his career overseas prior to retiring from playing.

His role with Duke will be his first full-time college coaching position, but Avery did start a basketball training program in his hometown and has spent a number of seasons as a graduate assistant for Duke.

“The opportunity to get Will here is an incredible one for us. He’s coming off of finishing his degree from Duke, which is an incredible thing, 20 years later, to do. But also he’s been with our program the last several years as a graduate assistant. So he’s been on the floor. He obviously know ours program from his days of playing here at the highest level. He knows the goals our current players have, because he’s done it himself. He was a lottery pick in 1999. And his experience playing, but also coaching and being around our program will make for an incredible addition to us next season,” Scheyer said in a video posted to the Duke men’s basketball Twitter account.