Grayson Allen On Duke And Getting Ready For The NBA

After Grayson Allen visited Boston, he had a few things to say about his time at Duke and what he learned from Coach K.

Not everyone is a one-and-done of course, and in Allen’s case, sticking around clearly helped him in spite of his rocky junior season.

Here’s what he had to say:

“I got to learn from coach [Mike Krzyzewski] for four years, so I got to think through the game in so many different roles.

“My basketball IQ improved so much just by playing for him. I learned how to prepare like a pro, how to recover like a pro, how to live like a pro while at Duke.

“And I also think I’m in a better spot to land and stick in the league. I think if I would have come out after my freshman, sophomore year, I would’ve been in a good spot, but I would have had to get lucky in a good situation.

”Right now, I think I’m in a place, I can handle a good situation, a bad situation, grinding through the G League, anything. I can handle all that and have a long-term career at this point.”

People ought to put that up in locker rooms. Duke has had enough one-and-dones now that not everyone has succeeded as much as they might like. Having the opportunity is not the same thing as being ready for it. There’s still something said for being patient and preparing thoroughly for your future profession.