Mark Mitchell to miss Duke season opener with lower-body injury
Mark Mitchell will miss Duke‘s season opener against Dartmouth with a lower-body injury, the team announced shortly before opening tip.
The sophomore forward finished the 2022-23 season averaging 9.1 points, 4.5 assists and 1.2 rebounds on a 46.9 percent shooting percentage.
Mitchell is a former four-star recruit out of the 2022 class. He was the No. 24 overall player and No. 12 small forward in the class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services.
As for the rest of Duke and their expectations, Jon Scheyer procured an ACC title under his belt in Year One, winning the tournament in Greensboro. Now, Duke will be aiming for a regular-season championship and has been dubbed the preseason favorites.
Most eyes will be on Kyle Filipwoski — who is back for his sophomore season and has been voted the preseason ACC Player of the Year. He caught fire toward the end of last year and is expected to do the same for Duke in 2023-2024.
Tip-off between the Blue Devils and Big Green is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET. Duke is a 27.5-point favorite inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Jon Scheyer, Duke agree to 6-year contract extension
Duke and Jon Scheyer have reportedly agreed to a contract extension, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Friday. The six-year deal will now run through 2028-29.
Scheyer is preparing for his second year as the head coach at his alma mater following Mike Krzyzewski’s retirement. Duke finished with a 27-9 overall record and a 14-6 record in ACC play. The Blue Devils then won the ACC Tournament championship over Virginia to enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 5 seed. Their season came to an end in the Round of 32 with a loss to Tennessee.
This year, expectations are once again high in Durham. Duke was picked as the No. 2-ranked team in the country in the preseason AP Top 25 and brought in a highly touted recruiting class. The Blue Devils came in at No. 2 in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking behind only Kentucky.
The headliner of the class is Five Star Plus+ guard Jared McCain. A product of Centennial (CA) High School, he came in as the No. 11-ranked player in the nation from the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. The recognition of Five Star Plus+ means McCain is one of the only players ranked by all four major recruiting media companies as a five-star.
On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.