Blakes in the Backcourt
Jim Sumner, GoDuke The Magazine
This story originally appeared in the 14.6 Issue of GoDuke the Magazine – January 2023
Jon Scheyer says that Duke sophomore guard Jaylen Blakes “is everything that Duke basketball is about.”
It’s easy to see what Blakes is not. He’s not a McDonald’s All-American. He didn’t play in the Jordan Brand Classic or the Nike Hoops Summit. NBA scouts aren’t salivating over Blakes. The three Duke classmates he came in with are all already playing professionally.
But Scheyer isn’t concerned with what Blakes is not. The first-year head coach recognizes what Blakes is — the consummate complementary player that every championship team needs.
And there may be even more down the line.
“He’s got great character,” Scheyer says. “He’s got a really good talent and he really is all about winning. He’s a big-time competitor.”
Blakes is a native of Somerset, N.J. He comes from a basketball family. His father Monroe played at St. Michael’s College, a D-2 school in Vermont. He’s in the school’s athletic hall of fame. Jaylen’s sister Mikayla is one of the top players in the prep class of 2024.
Blakes thinks he was around two when he was introduced to basketball. He says he “fell in love” with the sport pretty early. He gave football a try in middle school and soccer had some appeal. But he started playing AAU ball in the fourth grade and no other sport had a chance. His father taught him the basics but never coached him formally.
Monroe Blakes looked after his son’s basketball development while mother Nikkia made sure the academic side of the equation was covered.
Blakes attended Princeton Day School but wanted a better basketball experience without compromising academics. Enter Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J.
Sound familiar? Former Duke star Luol Deng attended Blair.
Blakes calls transferring to Blair “one of the best decisions of my life.”
The academics were top-tier and under the tutelage of Joe Mantegna, so was the coaching. Blakes cites Mantegna’s “knowledge of the game,” the competition in practice and the national schedule as keys to his development. Blakes especially cites current Penn star Jordan Dingle as a player who mentored him in practice.
Blakes came off the bench as a sophomore and scored 27 points to lead Blair to an 86-64 win over St. Benedict’s to claim the New Jersey private school state championship; St. Benedict’s had edged Blair by a point in the 2018 title game. (Future Duke walkon Keenan Worthington added 11 points in the 2019 title game.)
Blakes says that performance gave him confidence that he could play against anybody and he proved that as a junior, averaging 18 points and four assists per game.
Recruiting sites listed him in the bottom reaches of the top 100. He was being recruited by such schools as Florida State, Illinois, Georgetown and Stanford.
Then covid-19 hit. Blair played some scrimmages in 2021 but the season was canceled and Blakes’ recruiting was reduced to Zoom calls and online research.
Which meant that Blakes was uncommitted when Duke started to look for a presumptive four-year player to go along with Paolo Banchero, A.J. Griffin and Trevor Keels.
Scheyer was still an assistant then but says that Duke fell in love with Blakes right away.
“What got me excited when we started recruiting Jaylen is he’s a guy you want to go through battles with.”
Blakes says he wasn’t exactly sitting around and waiting for a Duke offer. But once one came it was game over.
Blakes’ calling card was defense. He’s 6-2, 200 pounds, with a 6-8 wingspan. Mantegna’s teams are known for their tough man-to-man defense, so he came to Duke prepared.
But Blakes says there’s more — a toughness unique to Jersey guards, “a mindset where you have to prove yourself every day. ‘Jersey tough’ means nobody is going to outwork you.”
Still, Blakes says he had no illusions. He knew he would be competing for playing time against future lottery picks.
So, he put that work ethic to work. He played only 94 minutes as a freshman, 24 against ACC schools. But behind the scenes he was working hard to change that.
“He got better,” according to Scheyer. “You didn’t necessarily get to see him all the time get better, but he worked his butt off every day, had a great attitude. He competed, went against Jeremy Roach, Trevor Keels and Wendell Moore, every single day.”
Blakes describes his offseason regimen.
“The coaches invested a lot of time in me. I was texting the coaches at 6 a.m. and coming back late at night with the managers. The one thing I focused on was not only being a better player but also mentally preparing myself, being ready for the role that was given to me, the opportunity that was given to me. Working on my confidence, just being consistent with everything that I do. It’s a lot of work to get to this point now and a lot of work left to do.”
He had a chance to showcase his game last summer helping the USA East Coast basketball team win three exhibitions in Barcelona over Spanish teams.
Blakes had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the three games and calls it “a great experience, getting game reps and playing against older guys.”
Blakes came back to Duke with renewed confidence. He and junior captain Jeremy Roach are roommates this season and Roach says the two share basketball insights daily.
“I call him the pit bull in the backcourt,” Roach said after the Jacksonville game. “He just always brings that toughness.”
Roach, Blakes and freshman Tyrese Proctor started the season as a three-guard rotation, a pattern made easier by Blakes’ versatility, his ability to play with Roach or Proctor, to play with the ball or off the ball.
Defense has continued to be his calling card. But Blakes showed his newfound offensive prowess when he made 2-of-3 from beyond the arc in Duke’s season opener against Jacksonville. It took Blakes five games to surpass last season’s minutes played total.
Scheyer established a pattern in which Blakes and grad student transfer Jacob Grandison were the first reserves to enter the game. Good things usually followed.
“Jaylen and Jake, every game they bring energy,” Scheyer said after the Maryland Eastern Shore game. “When they go in the game, they may not make every right play, but who does? … Jaylen plays hard all the time and it’s infectious.”
Blakes had a breakout game at Wake Forest, Duke’s first true road game. Illness kept freshmen Dariq Whitehead and Dereck Lively II on the sideline and Duke struggled. Except Blakes. In his first five minutes after entering the game Blakes had a rebound, a field goal, a steal, a block and an assist. He ended the game with a career-high 17 points, hitting 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and adding three assists and three steals.
It wasn’t enough as Duke fell 81-70. But Blakes earned a start against Florida State and matched that 17 points, hitting 4-of-6 on 3-pointers in 30 minutes as Duke grabbed a victory.
Blakes hasn’t since duplicated those back-to-back 17-point games. But he continues to make winning plays, digging out a loose ball on the floor, drawing a charge on a fastbreak, finding the open man — invaluable contributions for a young team, especially while Roach dealt with a toe injury.
Scheyer says Duke benefits from whatever Blakes brings.
Broken nose not gonna stop our guy J Boog ?????? pic.twitter.com/47N8oVMfPO
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) January 21, 2023
“I think you guys (the media) have seen watching this the whole year, the impact that he makes just by his energy, defense, making others better. I mean he’s been one of the best passers on the team, period. That’s what we need every game. And if some games it may be, if it’s 17, I’m all for it. And if it’s two points, I’m all for it also. His impact is way beyond scoring, especially with the guys we have on this team. So, proud of him and his attitude, what he’s done. And I’ll take 17 tomorrow night, I’ll take two, I’ll take any of it with Jaylen because of what he brings to winning on the court.”
Blakes is on the same page.
“I’m just doing whatever’s necessary to win,” he said after the FSU game. “The best way that I can lead is by example, so just putting everything out there on the line, and everybody else is doing the exact same. That’s what Duke basketball is about. We’re going to compete to the very end.”
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