Duke basketball: Jon Scheyer addresses Jaden Schutt's lack of minutes
Entering the season, Jaden Schutt was the question mark in projections of first-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer's primary rotation.
Many suspected the program's first-year shooting guard, a heralded prep sharpshooter who arrived in Durham at No. 75 on the 247Sports 2022 Composite, would likely get regular minutes only if the rotation grew to 10 deep. After all, the 2022 Duke basketball class also included five higher-rated prospects.
As it is, only nine guys have consistently received playing time for the now-unranked Blue Devils (13-5, 4-3 ACC).
However, one of them, junior point guard and lone captain Jeremy Roach, has missed the past three outings with a lingering toe injury. And he may miss more. Despite that and Duke's putrid 31.0 shooting percentage from deep, which isn't showing much improvement of late, Scheyer has yet to call on Schutt in Roach's recent absences.
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Instead, the number of players in the Duke basketball rotation has been stuck on eight for three games straight, with Schutt remaining on the bench even as the Blue Devils proceeded to finish a debilitating 3-for-20 from 3-point land in Saturday's 72-64 loss at Clemson.
"Jaden's done a great job in practice," Scheyer said during his Zoom chat with ACC media on Monday morning.
So why hasn't Scheyer experimented with the 6-foot-5, 185-pound Illinois native in the lineup recently?
"I can tell you, after every game, we're evaluating it all, and Jaden's been a guy who I really believe in deeply," Scheyer explained. "He has the ability to shoot from beyond the three. And that's something we're going to consider and talk about — because he's capable.
"You're looking at all the options, and you don't want to make it just about the 3-point shooting. We've won games shooting poorly from three. We still have to play to our strengths. Other guys have played well and have been ready to play. But Jaden's a guy that has to stay ready...And we'll see what happens here moving forward."
Thus far, Jaden Schutt has played in only seven games, averaging 2.4 points in 7.4 minutes per outing and shooting 5-for-10 from downtown.
The 19-year-old appeared to gain confidence during his 19 minutes in Duke's win over Maryland Eastern Shore on Dec. 10, tallying nine points, five rebounds, and one assist while shooting 3-for-3 beyond the arc.
Nevertheless, he's played only 10 minutes between his mere two appearances since.
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