Former Duke Guard Explains Why He Picked Blue Devils over In-state Program

Former Duke Blue Devils guard Jared McCain is entering his third season in the NBA, becoming a key piece to the Oklahoma City Thunder's rotation. 

After just one year at Duke, McCain was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers where he spent one season. He was a surprise move at the trade deadline last season, joining the defending NBA champion Thunder and helping get them back to the Western Conference Finals. 

Now, McCain is a key part of this Thunder roster as they look to reclaim the Western Conference once again. McCain has appeared in all four games so far and is averaging 11.3 points, 1.8 assists, and 1.5 rebounds per game. He's also shooting 47.8 percent from the three-point line early on, a good start. 

But before this upcoming season started, McCain appeared on "The Old Man and The Three" podcast with teammates Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell. Among the topics discussed was how he picked the Blue Devils despite growing up in California. 

In McCain's recruitment, he had 17 offers and drew significant interest from programs like UCLA, Kansas, Gonzaga, Houston, USC, and Washington, among others, before finally picking the Blue Devils.

But why Duke? Well, for McCain he just couldn't find anything wrong with the program.

McCain was asked about his decision on the podcast and said that he visited both USC and UCLA. He loved UCLA when he visited and growing up in California, it was natual to gravitate towards the program. 

However, McCain said that they didn't recruit him early enough, and if they did, they would have been one of the schools that he considered more in his recruitment. Once McCain went to Duke, he knew his recruitment was over. He described it as "cooked" and was looking to find something wrong with Duke, and he just couldn't do it, so he knew that was the spot he wanted to be at. 

McCain also mentioned visiting some schools with good football programs like LSU and Houston to see what that was like. 

And it was the right decision. McCain made an immediate impact at Duke in just his one year there. He averaged 14.3 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 41.4 percent from the three-point range. McCain also had a 35-point performance that tied Zion Williamson's Duke freshman record.

After his one year at Duke, McCain was drafted No. 16 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft by the 76ers.