Ex-Duke Basketball Player Transforms Into Potent Scorer for New Team

Jaylen Blakes has already tallied more points this season than he did in 31 games as a Duke basketball junior.

Duke basketball guard Jaylen Blakes / Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

Most of the seven outbound transfers from last season's Duke basketball squad are posting numbers that essentially mirror their production for the 2023-24 Blue Devils. As for Jaylen Blakes, though, he stands out as a clear exception.

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Through first-year ACC member Stanford's 5-0 start, the 21-year-old Duke grad, now a senior in his first season with the Cardinal, is averaging 15.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.0 steals while shooting 51.3 percent from the field, albeit only 23.5 percent from three on 3.4 attempts per outing. And Blakes, a full-time starter, has yet to finish with less than a dozen points in any game.

Consider that across his 89 appearances spanning three years as a Blue Devil, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound guard from Somerset, N.J., totaled only 183 points. So, at his current rate, Blakes will match that amount at Stanford before conference play even gets into full swing in early January.

Moreover, Blakes' 78 points this go-round are already 21 more than he scored for the 2023-24 Blue Devils.

He and the Cardinal next face a road test against Santa Clara at 10 p.m. ET Saturday (ESPN+).

In what will be Jaylen Blakes' lone return to Durham as a member of the visiting squad, they'll square off against Jon Scheyer's third Duke basketball team, currently No. 12 in the AP Top 25 Poll, in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 1 p.m. ET Saturday, Feb. 15 (ABC).

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