Per Duke Sports Information:
Jefferson, Jones, Allen Named 2016-17 Captains
DURHAM, N.C. — Graduate student Amile Jefferson, senior Matt Jones and junior Grayson Allen have been named team captains for the 2016-17 season, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski announced Friday. Jefferson will serve as team captain for the third time in his career, while Jones garners the honor for the second time. Allen enters the season as a team captain for the first time in his career.
Jefferson, who suffered a season-ending injury last year that forced the Philadelphia, Pa., native to miss the team’s final 27 games, enters his fifth season at Duke. Over his five year career, Jefferson has averaged 6.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. The four-time All-ACC Academic Team honoree owns a career field goal percentage of .624, which ranks second-best in program history, while his 277 career offensive rebounds currently rank sixth on Duke’s career list. Prior to being sidelined with his injury, Jefferson led the Blue Devils in rebounds eight times in nine games, while also posting three double-doubles.
Jones enters his senior season after a junior campaign that saw the DeSoto, Texas, native average 10.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, all career highs. Jones, who started each of the Blue Devils’ 35 contests, played an integral role in helping guide Duke to its 20th consecutive season with more than 20 wins, posting strong play against some of the Blue Devils’ most difficult opponents, including Indiana. Jones scored a career-high 23 points on a career high-tying five three-pointers while facing the Hoosiers at home during the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Jones’ three-point efficiency was also crucial to Duke’s success, as he concluded the season ranked fifth in the ACC in three-point percentage (.415) and 10th in three-pointers made per game (2.2).
Allen, who sits just 68 points shy of becoming Duke’s 65th 1,000-point scorer, claimed All-America honors from numerous media outlets following a stellar sophomore season. The Jacksonville, Fla., native averaged 21.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 36.6 minutes of action. Allen’s 17.2 points per game improvement from his freshman year set a Duke and ACC record for single-season scoring increase, while he also became just the second sophomore in program history to score 779-or-more points in a single season. Allen, who garnered a myriad of recognition throughout the season, being named a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award, the Oscar Robertson Trophy and the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award, was also named a second-team College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American, as well as the All-ACC Academic team.
Duke kickstarts the 2016-17 season with its annual Countdown to Craziness presented by Delta Air Lines, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 22, before welcoming Virginia State (Oct. 28) and Augustana (Nov. 4) to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a pair of home exhibition contests. The Blue Devils are set to begin regular season play at home with the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off, welcoming Grand Canyon to Durham Nov. 11.
