Duke Basketball Coach: Outbound Transfers Were Contacted During Season

Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer suggests that widespread tampering is just an unfortunate new reality in college hoops.

Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer / Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

There are NCAA rules in place that prohibit tampering. Enforcement is an issue. So, it seems increasingly prevalent. And Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer, as with countless others in his profession, isn't keeping secret that many of his players were contacted before entering the transfer portal.

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In fact, during his appearance on The Devil's Den: A Duke Athletics Podcast this week, the 36-year-old Scheyer noted that was the case for all seven of the Blue Devils who ultimately transferred out of the program in the spring:

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"There's tampering all the time," Scheyer said after explaining his staff's hurdles in the transfer portal related to some potential Duke targets' apparent pre-entry contacts by potential suitors. "I could tell you, the seven guys we had transfer, all seven of them were contacted throughout the season.

"Look...that's the way it goes. That's the era we're in. And so, you have to just be ready to attack those things in real time."

Duke HC Jon Scheyer says all 7 outgoing Duke Transfers were Tampered with and that tampering is running rampant in the NCAA Today.

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Scheyer and his crew eventually compiled a formidable transfer haul of their own, consisting of an NCAA Tournament runner-up's key contributor in former four-year Purdue forward Mason Gillis, a budding graduate talent from Tulane in forward Sion James, another heralded defensive stopper in junior forward Maliq Brown out of Syracuse, and a reserve piece in former three-year Rice guard Cameron Sheffield.

As for the seven outbound transfers, keeping track of their whereabouts next season shouldn't prove too challenging for Duke basketball fans. After all, over half remain in the ACC: Jaden Schutt (Virginia Tech), TJ Power (Virginia), Christian Reeves (Clemson), and Jaylen Blakes (Stanford). The other three are Sean Stewart (Ohio State), Mark Mitchell (Missouri), and Jeremy Roach (Baylor).

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