Retired Duke basketball legend Mike Krzyzewski and his wife, Mickie, are in Las Vegas. So are second-year head coach Jon Scheyer and a few of his cohorts.
They and dozens of former Duke basketball players — a mix of on-court participants in this week's NBA Summer League and coaches or executives in the NBA or G League — gathered for a ballroom meal.
Their group picture below is a testament to the program's success in churning out professionals spanning all levels and forging intergenerational bonds between former players:
Then on Friday evening, Scheyer, along with newly minted associate head coach Jai Lucas and general manager Rachel Baker, pulled up courtside at the Cox Pavilion in Vegas to watch 2021-22 Duke basketball one-and-done Trevor Keels play for the Knicks in their 97-89 win over the Boston Celtics.
Keels, who went No. 42 overall at last year's draft and signed a two-way contract with the Knicks, had struggled in Vegas. Entering Friday's contest, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound guard averaged 6.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 17.7 minutes per game as a starter, shooting only 30.8 percent from the field and 25.0 percent beyond the arc.
But with Scheyer & Co. sitting only a few feet from the action, Trevor Keels enjoyed his best shooting performance of the week.
The 19-year-old, still only two years removed from his arrival in Durham as a five-star McDonald's All-American out of Paul VI Catholic (Va.), shot 7-for-10 overall, 4-for-5 from three, and 2-for-3 at the charity stripe on his way to an efficient 20-point outing.
A couple of Keels' buckets, including one splash from downtown, arrived late in the fourth quarter when the Celtics were climbing back. He also tallied three boards, three dimes, and a steal in his weeklong-high 30 minutes on the floor.
Two-way contracts aren't of the guaranteed variety. With that in mind, another strong showing by Trevor Keels in the Knicks' final Summer League outing, which comes against the Denver Nuggets at 8:30 p.m. ET Saturday, sure wouldn't hurt.
Last season, Keels was on the court in only three games for the New York Knicks, totaling three points and two rebounds in eight minutes.
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