Big Duke Basketball Coach Reportedly Leaving Blue Devils for NBA

Amile Jefferson spent the past two seasons on the Duke basketball staff, first as the director of player development and then as a full-fledged assistant under first-year head coach Jon Scheyer last go-round. But now, he's finalizing a deal to join the Boston Celtics staff, 247Sports' Travis Branham reported on Wednesday afternoon.

The 6-foot-9 former Blue Devil forward, a three-time team captain and one-time national champion who went on to play two seasons with the Orlando Magic, served as Duke's primary big-man coach. He helped develop one-and-done 7-footer Dereck Lively II, a potential lottery pick at Thursday night's NBA Draft.

With the Celtics, the 30-year-old Amile Jefferson will reunite with his former Duke basketball teammate, four-time All-Star forward Jayson Tatum. In 2016-17, Tatum was a one-and-done for the Blue Devils, while Jefferson was a fifth-year senior.

Back together pic.twitter.com/WF0JWpTqJl
— Duke Update (@UpdateDuke) June 21, 2023

One can assume Tatum put in a good word for him with the Boston brass.

As things stand, Scheyer's primary staff consists of associate head coach Chris Carrawell, second-year Duke assistant Jai Lucas, and special assistant to the head coach, Mike Schrage.

It's possible Scheyer will seek out more guards for his staff (the NCAA now allows up to five assistants on the bench) and put Carrawell in charge of instructing Duke's post players.

Or he could reach out to former Duke basketball forward and long-time assistant under Mike Krzyzewski, Nate James, who was fired from Austin Peay this year following two seasons at the helm.

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