Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Michigan State on November 10, 2026 at TBA
/
TBA
Men's Basketball
vs Michigan State
Curry Gets First Taste of Game Action in Cameron
10/17/2009 8:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. -- No one was looking forward to Friday night's Countdown to Craziness more than Seth Curry.
The slender guard will have to sit out this season after transferring to Duke from Liberty. He won't even be allowed to play in the upcoming exhibition games.
The Blue-White scrimmage at the heart of the night of craziness was to be his one and only chance this season to perform for the Blue Devil fans.
"My first time in Cameron with the Crazies there!" Curry said Thursday afternoon. "I'm excited to get out on the court for the first time."
Maybe too excited, it turned out.
"I was amped up for the game, excited for it," he admitted in the locker room Friday night after the scrimmage. "I had to get calmed down and do what I do best. I was trying to show [what I can do] in my one time on the court and I was putting a lot of pressure on myself."
Curry started at point guard for the Blue team in the first 12-minute scrimmage. He looked quick with the ball and got several good shots, but he couldn't get anything to fall. The player who led the nation's freshmen in scoring last season missed all four of his field goal attempts in the 12-minute session. And when he tried to penetrate and dish to teammates, his passes were usually deflected.
It was a rough start.
For the second 12-minute scrimmage, Curry moved to wing and shared the backcourt with junior Nolan Smith. At first, it didn't appear to help as Curry missed his first shot, drew a foul and missed his first free throw. He made the second of two free throws for his first point in Cameron, but it didn't really turn for him until the final minutes of the scrimmage.
"When I started to get comfortable out there, it started to pop," he said. "It was only a matter of time."
That time came with 3:21 to play, when Curry hit a 3-pointer to give the Blue team a 23-22 lead. He added another 3-pointer at the 2:30 mark. And with 1:25 to play, Curry tied the game with a 3-pointer from J.J. Redick-range - close to 35 feet.
That's three 3-pointers in less than two minutes. That's a taste of what Seth Curry can do.
"He's a hell of a player, I'll tell you that," senior Brian Zoubek said. "He's got crazy range and he just knows the game. He plays at a nice pace. I think that's the best was I can describe him. He plays at the pace that best suits where his skill level is and his size. He changes speed well. He can always get his open shot ... and he knocks it down, I can tell you that."
That's what the 6-foot-1 guard did at Liberty, where he averaged 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists as a freshman - the highest total for any freshman in college basketball. Those gaudy numbers were not just a function of playing in the low-major Big South league.
In two games against ACC opponents, Curry scored 26 points at Virginia and 24 at Clemson.
His strong offensive game evoked comparisons to his older brother - Davidson's first-team All-American Stephen Curry. Such comparisons don't brother the younger brother.
"People think it bothers me, but it doesn't," Seth Curry said. "He's been such a great player in college the last few years. If I'm going to be compared, I'd like to be compared to great players. But I go out and try to be my own player.
"We do similar things, but we do them in different ways. I think I've got more of a one-on-one game than him. He scores more off screens."
Not only is Curry's older brother a celebrated basketball player, but his father was a renowned shooter in his own day. Dell Curry was an All-American at Virginia Tech and played 16 seasons in the NBA, averaging double figures 11 times.
Seth Curry remembers watching his father finish his career in Toronto, but he's also seen tapes of Dell Curry in his prime.
"We kind of joke about it," Seth Curry said. "Him and Muggsy Bogues [playing together for the old Charlotte Hornets] - in those days, they were pretty good."
Dell Curry helped shape the basketball players his sons would become.
"Dad can still shoot it out in the backyard ... I don't know about a 5 on 5 setting," Seth said. "When we're home, we play horse a lot. He gave us pointers - do this, do that - but to be a great shooter, you've got to get in the gym and work at it."
Seth Curry said he largely learned the game away from an organized setting.
"[I learned] playing my brother one-on-one in the backyard," he said. "That was a big thing. My parents didn't want us playing AAU because they didn't want us to lose our skill level. AAU gets kind of crazy. In the summer, my Mom and Dad will get us in the gym and work on our games."
Maybe that's why the Curry brothers slipped under the recruiting radar of so many schools.
"We didn't play AAU that much coming up," Seth said. "Maybe that's it."
Stephen Curry was missed by every major college recruiter. Amazingly, with that glaring error staring the ACC coaches in the face, 11 of the 12 whiffed on the second Curry brother. Seth's only ACC offer coming out of high school was from Virginia Tech.
Curry said his only contact with Duke was a questionnaire that he got in the mail. Now, Krzyzewski is kicking himself for not pushing harder to land the son of one All-American and the brother of another.
"I wish we could go back to high school and have him come in early," Krzyzewski said.
The Duke coach should thank his lucky stars that he got a second chance at the Curry's latest shooting star.
"After the season [at Liberty], me and my family got together to go over what had happened and discuss the best situation going forward," Curry said. "I wasn't thinking about transferring or anything like that. My Dad brought it up and we talked about it. I thought about it. Once we let it known that I might be transferring, schools started contacting me. I visited Duke and I loved it. I thought it would be a good place for me."
Stephen Curry supported his brother's transfer to Duke.
"He gave me input about what he thought would be a good situation," Seth Curry said. "He and Coach K had a little relationship. They had played each other and Coach K had respect for him. Steph said Coach K was a great person and a great coach."
Krzyzewski is grateful to wind up with the player he missed on coming out of high school. Curry won't be able to play in games this season, but he'll have three seasons of eligibility remaining at Duke, starting next year.
And for the time being, he'll be a useful player in practice.
"Seth is really good," the Duke coach said. "He's been great during the preseason. They have to play against him every day. He can really shoot the ball and he knows how to play. He comes to play every day. No maintenance. That helps us in preparation for playing against another team, playing against him every day."
Jon Scheyer is a senior who regrets that he will never get to play with Curry in a game.
"I wish I was playing with him because he's really good," Scheyer said. "I think he's going to surprise a lot of people next year how good he is. He's really crafty with the ball and he can really shoot it. He knows how to play the game. Like his brother, he's very similar in that regard. They just know how to play the game. So next year, he's going to be very successful. He can play either guard spot and he's a dangerous offensive weapon."
Still, Scheyer is looking forward to going against Curry in practice this season.
"He doesn't have games this year, so his games are going to be practices," he said. "So he's going to come out every practice, trying to kill our team. Also, he's as good as any guard we're going to play - he's that good. Being able to go up against that in practice really helps."
Curry understands that he has to make his contribution on the practice floor. He's steeled himself to the ordeal of sitting out a year ... but that doesn't mean he has to like it.
"It's hard to get pumped up about it," he said. "I'm not happy about it. But I've got to deal it. I've got to mentally prepare myself to get better every day. Just try to treat my practices as games and give the first team the best test possible. I think I'll have a big role this year, just being on the scout team and going after Jon and Nolan as hard as possible during practice and making them better."
Curry's own time will come - a year from now. It's impossible to guess at the impact he'll have next season, but he does have Coach K's track record in his favor. Krzyzewski has accepted two previous transfers into his program - Roshown McLeod and Dahntay Jones. Both ended up as first-team All-ACC performers and both became first-round NBA draft picks.
Could Seth Curry be on the same path at Duke?
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's BasketballHall of Fame basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski with a game plan for the country's future
Tuesday, March 31
Maliq Brown - Humble Beast
Tuesday, March 31
Sebastian Wilkins Big Dance Exclusive: Greenville, SC
Tuesday, March 31
Duke Press Conference After Round of 64 (3-19-26)
Tuesday, March 31
