Jay Williams has his No. 22 Duke basketball jersey hanging from the rafters inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Williams helped the Blue Devils put up one of the five national championship banners overlooking Coach K Court, leading Duke to a banner year in the 2000-01 season.
Now, the 43-year-old Williams is on the other side of his playing days as an analyst for ESPN. Still, he knows the title-winning traits required for a team to climb the ladder and cut down the nets at the Final Four.
DUKE CHASING RECORD: Cooper Flagg, Duke basketball passing at historic pace, chasing 73-year-old assists record
KEY STAT FOR BLUE DEVILS: The stat that stood out to Cooper Flagg, Duke basketball in Blue Devils’ dominant win vs UNC
During College GameDay’s visit to Durham, ahead of Duke’s blowout win against rival North Carolina, Williams provided his insight on the second-ranked Blue Devils.
Jon Scheyer’s ‘blend of youth and experience’ on Duke basketball roster
Duke (19-2, 11-0 ACC), owner of a 15-game winning streak as the current favorite to win the national championship, is closing in on a No. 1 ranking in the polls for the first time since 2021 – that is, of course, if the Blue Devils keep winning and No. 1 Auburn takes a step back.
That success, Williams says, starts with third-year coach Jon Scheyer. In his first two seasons, Scheyer led the Blue Devils to a 54-18 record, including an ACC Tournament championship and Elite Eight appearance.
“Jon’s always had this disposition where he can critique you, but then he can also bring you closer to him. There’s that feel for people and the game from a teacher perspective that I think is uniquely different. And also, I think his youthfulness helps him in relatability terms with players,” Williams said.
“But there’s also that same standard of excellence. It has not dropped off from Coach K leaving the helm. I think, if anything, it’s been increased with a sense of urgency.”
Williams highlighted how Scheyer brought in a trio of veteran players via the transfer portal to aid Cooper Flagg and another top-ranked recruiting class. The pieces fit and Scheyer is seeing the payoff on the court.
“I think when you have young players like Cooper Flagg that play older, matched with older players that have been experienced, that’s an algorithm that sets you up for success,” Williams said.
“When we won a championship here, we had the perfect blend of youth and experience. I think that’s what you’re seeing right now with the personnel on this team.”
Cooper Flagg factor, playmaking from other Blue Devils
Any conversation about Duke’s success this season begins with Cooper Flagg, the favorite to win National Player of the Year and projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Williams, a two-time National Player of the Year for the Blue Devils, believes “Cooper is beyond his years” in how he plays the game. But he’s interested to see “the maturation of this team” around Flagg as March Madness draws closer on the calendar. Since the losses to Kentucky and Kansas, Kon Knueppel and Sion James have become consistent facilitators and initiators of offense for the Blue Devils.
FLAGG DAY: How Cooper Flagg’s dad helped Duke basketball freshman set ACC record for Blue Devils
“At the beginning of the season, for a young basketball team, they had a lot of end-of-game situations. How they handled that then is not what you would expect for them moving forward,” Williams said.
“The one thing that I want to see continue to develop for this team is having somebody who can be multi-dimensional and create shots with others, where that may not be Cooper. How you get him in operational zones, where teams don’t see it coming, where he doesn’t have to have the ball for 3-4 seconds. I think Jon’s going to make those adjustments.”
‘Seriousness’ in how Duke is ‘practicing championship habits’
Going back to the summer and preseason, Duke has continually pointed to an increase in competition as one of the reasons this team is experiencing success at a high level. Williams has noticed that “character” when he watches the Blue Devils.
“There’s a seriousness and there’s not a lot of screwing around with how they approach the day-to-day nature of it,” Williams said.
“I’m just gonna tell you guys, from traveling around the country – I’m not saying you can’t have an easiness or have fun with the moment, because you have to learn how to balance those two – but you see a lot of teams that take their foot off the gas. It creates moments where those habits translate to the game.”
EMBRACING THE GRIND: How Duke basketball’s preseason practices, two traits helped Blue Devils knock off Auburn
Williams hasn’t seen that complacency creep in for Duke, which he believes has the pieces and mindset to put up a sixth championship banner in Cameron alongside the one he helped put up there in 2001.
“For me, it’s all about practicing championship habits,” Williams said.
“That’s something that, it’s not a light switch. That thing has to stay on all the time. It has to burn with a white flame. And I think that’s what this team has the potential for.”
Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to rbaxley@fayobserver.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: ESPN’s Jay Williams lists Duke basketball’s best traits this season
