Joey Baker: "Probably Unlikely" That Duke Will Play in Front of Fans

Junior preparing for empty arenas

College basketball will start next month, and no one is sure exactly what the season will look like. Duke’s Joey Baker says the Blue Devils aren’t spending much time worrying about the details.

“Any season that allows us to play,” he said of his, and the team’s hopes for the upcoming year. “I know there’s a ton of different variables that go into enabling us to have a season. The virus complicates that tremendously. I honestly don’t have a clear answer of what it’ll look like. I can speak for myself and speak for the rest of the team. As long as there’s a season and we’re able to play basketball, then we’re happy. Obviously, we’d love to have fans. We’d love to have you guys there. Maybe that happens. I’m not sure. It’s probably unlikely. But as long as we have basketball, we’ll be happy.”

Duke has one of the biggest home court advantages in the country. So the prospect of playing with no fans is a daunting one.

“We feed off the Cameron Crazies,” Baker said. “If we’re on a road game, we’re typically in a pretty packed arena, and we feed off the boos and all that stuff. Being able to develop our own energy and enthusiasm among ourselves is a huge key for us this year. Honestly, this team, from what I’ve seen so far, we bring it every day. Everyone’s excited to work, excited to practice. I’m sure when the time comes, when we’re playing games, that will only be amplified. It’s not the same. It’s unfortunate, but I think we’ll make the best of the situation, and we’ll bring the enthusiasm every night. We’ll have a good time.”