No Position, No Problem for Duke's Jaemyn Brakefield
Duke freshmen Jaemyn Brakefield and Jalen Johnson played together on the EYBL circuit during high school. That should help them with chemistry while playing together with the Blue Devils.
“It helps a lot, even on the court, just talking to him, bringing him up, him bring me up, telling him, ‘Let’s go!’ and talking before and after games what he can do better and what I can do better,” Brakefield said. “We know each other’s games. If I cut, he knows where I want the ball and how to hit me. We know each other’s tendencies. It’s great to play with each other again.”
Brakefield had a big game against Michigan State, but he knows he has room for improvement.
“I’m working on everything,” he said. “Every part of my game. Just to improve one thing I bring to every game is effort and energy on the defensive side of the ball. That’s something the trainers have done a great job helping me do—getting my hips lower. Coming from high school, I wasn’t seen as a defensive player. It’s something you have to really lock in at college and something I take ownership of here. It’s really all about the want—the want to do it. Now I feel like I want to guard everybody in the country.”
Brakefield doesn’t have a set position—he can play guard or forward in a variety of roles for the Blue Devils.
“They don’t really have one for me,” he said of his position. “It doesn’t really matter what time or when I get on the court. When I get on there, it doesn’t matter what position I’m playing. I just do all the little things.”
