Jeremy Roach Likes How Coach K Takes Care of His Players

Incoming point guard impressed with Hall of Fame coach

Jeremy Roach will become the latest in a long line of Duke point guards to play for coach Mike Krzyzewski next season.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound five-star from Fairfax, Virginia’s Paul VI Catholic is the No. 4 point guard in the class of 2021 and is busy trying to stay in shape while waiting for the green light to come to Duke after the campus reopens.

“I’ve got a little gym in my basement, and I’m trying to get up to the basketball gym as much as I can,” he said while appearing on Duke Basketball’s Brotherhood podcast. “My friend actually has a full court in his backyard. So I use that.”

Roach chose Duke over Kentucky, North Carolina and Villanova just over a year ago. He explained to podcast host and Duke assistant Nolan Smith why.

“How much of a brotherhood it is,” Roach said. “Everything is connected around that brotherhood, how well Coach K takes care of his players. His coaches, obviously, you see his coaches are his former players. He always looks out and wants what’s best for you on and off the court. As a human, I felt like he was the best guy for me.”

Basketball was originally Roach’s second-favorite sport as a child.

“I was a football guy,” he said. I didn’t switch over to basketball as my main sport until seventh grade. I was going back and forth between football and basketball. I played running back and a little receiver.”

Then his father, Joe, stepped in.

“My dad, one year, he didn’t let me play (football),” Roach said. “He said, ‘I don’t want you getting hurt for basketball.’ That’s when I took it a little more seriously. I decided he’s never going to let me play anyway, so I’ll just move on to basketball.”