Duke basketball names its captains. Here’s who will lead the way in Coach K’s final season
Back on June 3, Joey Baker and Wendell Moore sat side-by-side in Cameron Indoor Stadium when Mike Krzyzewski announced this would be his last season as the Blue Devils’ coach.
This season, they’ll work together to lead the team through the historic ride that they hope ends with a championship to cap off Krzyzewski’s storied career.
Duke’s players voted Baker and Moore as team captains, something that only makes sense given all the experience they have with the Blue Devils as compared to their teammates.
Baker and Moore are among four returning scholarship players from last season as Duke brought in two transfers and four freshmen to this season’s roster. The other two returning players who were on scholarship at Duke last season are sophomores Mark Williams and Jeremy Roach.
“This is such a tremendous and well-deserved honor for Joey and Wendell,” Krzyzewski said in a statement Monday night. “Our team could not have selected two more worthy captains, who are each great leaders in their own way. Wendell and Joey are hardworking, selfless, and humble and set a daily example with how beautifully they represent our program. Our team is in great hands as we prepare for this season.”
A 6-6 forward from Fayetteville, Baker is the lone player on Duke’s roster who has appeared in an NCAA tournament game with the Blue Devils. That came during his freshman season in 2018-19, when he was a deep reserve on Duke’s ACC championship team led by his classmates Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish.
Baker has played in 54 games for Duke with four starts over the last three seasons, averaging 3.9 points per game.
Moore, a 6-5 forward from Charlotte, arrived for the 2019-20 season. He has appeared in 49 games, with 29 starts, over the last two seasons. He’s averaged 8.6 points per game.
Both Baker and Moore will be Duke’s player representatives at Tuesday’s ACC Basketball Tipoff media event in Charlotte.
Last month, Krzyzewski tipped his hand, to a degree, when discussing Moore’s personal growth in the offseason.
“He has become that older leader that we’ve had over the years,” Krzyzewski said. “By going through the things that you go through as a freshman and a sophomore, learning how to be a player, learning how to be a Duke student, learning how to lead.”
But, overall, Krzyzewski already has good feeling about this team’s cohesiveness.
“We have a real close group,” Krzyzewski said. “They have been fun to coach. And they have fun. They work hard. They work really, really hard.”
The first public event of this season is Countdown to Craziness Friday night at 7 p.m. It includes a Blue-White scrimmage. The Blue Devils play Winston-Salem State in an exhibition game Oct. 30 at 1:30 p.m. and open the regular season Nov. 9 against Kentucky in the Champions Classic doubleheader at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
This story was originally published October 11, 2021 at 5:00 PM.