Amile Jefferson, who helped lead Duke to the 2015 National Championship, is back with the Blue Devils. Jefferson was hired as the team’s director of player development and will be on hand for Coach K’s final season as head coach.
“For me, this was an earlier pivot than I would have thought,” he said, “but this is home. To be here and to be back and learn under Coach during an amazing year and then to have [Jon] Scheyer, Nolan [Smith] and [Chris] Carrawell was an amazing decision. I’m super proud to be back here. I love this place – the city of Durham, the fans, the Crazies, this atmosphere is second to none. To be back here and try to help our young guys get better is an amazing honor for me. Super happy to be back.”
Jefferson has been busy this summer making the transition into being a member of the Duke staff.
“The biggest thing for me is being a sponge and learning as much as I can,” he said. “I know the player side but you never really know how much goes into getting you ready. For me, learning what day-to-day looks like [and] being in these staff meetings. I think the most fun I’ve had so far is just interacting with the guys. It’s been great. I’m working very closely with Coach [Jon] Scheyer and being able to interact with him and pick his brain – he’s amazing. To be around him every day, I just feel myself growing and learning which is really cool.”
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