Javin DeLaurier: We Don’t Have That ‘Give One Guy the Ball to Go Win the Game For Us’ Type of Player

Duke using depth and versatility to win this season

Javin DeLaurier is a senior and team captain, but he’s been starting games on the bench this year and coming in as one of the first subs. That allows him to keep the other bench players engaged early in the game, although he says that hasn’t been difficult with this year’s squad.

“Especially with the way this team is made up and how we’ve played throughout the year, it’s a lot easier,” he said, “just because we know that everyone is going to have to contribute for us to be successful, and on any given night, someone can really step up and try to help our team win. That’s done wonders just for guys keeping their confidence up, knowing that at any moment the team may need you and you’re going to have to step up in order for us to be successful.”

DeLaurier said that the team’s depth also keeps everyone engaged, because they never know when it may be their turn to step up.

“Knowing that we don’t have that ‘give one guy the ball and go win the game for us’ type of player right now, so for us to be successful, we know we have to work together. So in practice and throughout our year, coaches have done great job of switching lineups around, having us play with diff guys, because you never know what the lineup may be in the game, because we know we’re going to have to use each other in order to score. So just playing off each other has been good for us this year.”