Jon Scheyer is reaching way back in history for his latest assistant hire.
Duke announced on Friday that they have hired former NBA player Will Avery to serve as an assistant coach on Scheyer’s staff.
Here is the video where Scheyer himself announced the move.
NEWS: @Will_Avery5 has been named Assistant Coach! pic.twitter.com/MHgopblXrm
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) July 7, 2023
Avery, 43, played at Duke from 1997-99 but became one of the few players under head coach Mike Krzyzewski to leave school early for the NBA Draft. He was ultimately drafted in the lottery (No. 14 overall) by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1999. Though Avery did not have a very successful NBA career (2.7 points per game in three career seasons), he did have a lengthy run playing professionally overseas. Avery played for teams in France, Germany, Israel, Greece, and other countries before retiring in 2012.
Scheyer notes in the above video that Avery recently returned to Duke to complete his degree and also had been working with the basketball team as a graduate assistant. The Blue Devils are coming off an up-and-down 2022-23 season (which was very un-Duke-like in some ways) and will now turn to Avery to help guide them as an official assistant coach.
