Good-bye Coach Jefferson, We barely knew you.
Well, as a coach, anyway.
For the second time in six years Amile Jefferson packed his bags and moved from Duke to the professional ranks. Jefferson is now an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics, where one of his charges will be former teammate Jayson Tatum. And once the season starts, there’s a good chance Jefferson will be coaching against a former teammate, Grayson Allen or Seth Curry or Mason Plumlee or Brandon Ingram, for example.
The word on the street is that Jefferson is a pretty good coach and I guess that street extends to New England.
I’ll miss Amile. He was one of the best interviews around, thoughtful, articulate, intelligent. And cliche free; no, giving 110 percent or taking what the defense gives you.
Plus, we have a lot in common, We share a birthday and we both majored in history at Duke, And he was was a four-time Academic All-ACC selection.
Okay, not so much in common.
Jefferson had an unusual career at Duke. He unofficially visited Duke as a sophomore for Countdown, He was a McDonald’s All-American, the consensus no. 21 recruit in the prep class of 2012 out of Philly’s Friends Central and was prioritized by the Big Five and other schools, including NC State.
And Duke needed a post player in that class, with Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly entering their senior seasons.
But Duke put Jefferson on a back burner while they swung and missed on bigs like Mitch McGary, Alex Poythress and Tony Parker, along with combo guard Rodney Purvis.
Jefferson played the long game and Duke eventually came around.
He signed with Duke on May 15, 2012, joining Rasheed Sulaimon, another Mickie Dee in a two-man class.
Jefferson was 6-8, 185 when he came to Duke and many pundits had him pegged as a wing. But Kelly mentored him as a post player. Kelly and Jefferson both were solid defenders and rebounders and outstanding communicators.
But Kelly could step outside and drain a 3, a skill that eluded Jefferson for his entire career.
Jefferson took over for Kelly when the latter broke his foot in the middle of the 2013 season. He couldn’t replace Kelly’s scoring but he defended and rebounded.
Jefferson hit the weights and kept getting bigger and stronger. He was listed at 6-9, 224 by the time he finished at Duke.
Jefferson started alongside freshman Jabari Parker as an under-sized 4/5 combo in 2014 and averaged 6.9 rebounds per game. He had 15 rebounds in a 69-65 win over Virginia. Remember that infamous loss to Mercer in the NCAA Tournament, the game in which Parker and Rodney Hood combined to shoot 6 of 24? Well, Jefferson led eveybody with 11 rebounds. Not his fault.
He had found his niche.
Jefferson moved back to power forward in 2014-’15 and started alongside freshman star Jahlil Okafor for much the season. In fact, he started 26 games. Krzyzewski made a change not because of any shortcomings in Jefferson’s performance but because he thought surrounding Okafor with four shooters was the best way to maximize his strengths. Justise Winslow moved from small forward to power forward and Matt Jones took over as a starter.
But Jefferson hardly disappeared from the rotation. He still played 21 minutes per game and averaged 5.8 rebounds per game. His defense against Wisconsin’s national player of the year Frank Kaminsky when Okafor was on the bench in foul trouble was a key in Duke’s win in the title game.
Okafor and Winslow went to the pros and 2015-’16 was Jefferson’s year.
Until it wasn’t.
Jefferson had worked on his offensive game, developing effective post moves, a jump hook, an up-and-under, while continuing to crash the boards and play great defense. He had 16 points and 15 rebounds in a loss to Kentucky, 19 and 12 in a win against Siena, .
With Jefferson dominating inside, Grayson Allen having an All-American season, Matt Jones locking down the perimeter and freshmen Brandon Ingram, Luke Kennard and Derryck Thornton augmenting the returnees, maybe Duke did have a chance to repeat after all.
But Jefferson fractured his right foot after nine games, a practice injury. Initial reports suggested he would be out at least a month, then the dreaded “indefinitely,” then Duke shut him down for the season.
He averaged 11.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 68.3 percent from the field.
Shelden Williams (twice) and Marvin Bagley are the only Duke players to average over 10.3 rebounds per game for a full season under Coach K.
The good news? Jefferson just beat the threshold for earning a medical hardship. He came back for 2016-’17 and took over where he left off. He had 16 points and 15 rebounds in a win over Penn State, 15 points and 10 rebounds in a win over William and Mary, 17 and 13 against Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, 24 and 15 against Florida 17 and 15 over Rhode Island, also wins.
But he re-injured the same foot, this time in a game, against Boston College. He only missed two games this time. He was told that he couldn’t make it any worse by playing but he would be playing in pain. He endured the pain and reduced mobility to salvage a Duke season marred by multiple injuries and the Allen-tripping-controversy.
Jefferson had 14 points and five rebounds as Duke defeated Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament title game and was one of Duke’s few effective players--14 points, 15 rebounds, six blocks--when Duke lost to South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament.
He averaged 10.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game and led Duke with 65 blocks.
Jefferson ended his career with 1,079 points and 944 rebounds. He never attempted a 3-pointer at Duke.
Jefferson played 150 games at Duke, breaking Shane Battier’s school record of 148. He’s third in overall wins, at 124, trailing only Battier (131) and Kyle Singler (125). He converted 62.1 percent of his field-goal attempts, second behind Carlos Boozer; Zion Williamson just missed the minimum-shot threshold.
He’s also the only person to be named team captain three times under Krzyzewski.
An oft-injured power forward with no shot had no shot at the next level. Jefferson went undrafted in 2017. But he worked his worked his way through the G-League. He even led the G-League in rebounds in 2018, averaging 13 per game for the Iowa Wolves. And Jefferson did make the NBA, playing 31 games, mostly for Orlando.
But he couldn't’t stick.
He was playing in Turkey when he got a call from Duke. Entry-level position available. Chance of promotion good.
Director of Player Personnel, aka assistant-coach-in-waiting.
The waiting didn’t take long. Nolan Smith left for Louisville and Jon Scheyer promoted Jefferson to assistant coach.
“I’m deeply honored and excited to be here and be a part of this team that Jon Scheyer is building,” Jefferson said in a news release. “I feel a special bond and connection to Durham, our fans and our entire Duke family.”
“Having a front-row seat for the evolution of Amile’s career has been special,” Scheyer added. “His passion, knowledge, and ability to relate to our guys is second-to-none. He played a valuable role for our team this season, particularly in the development of our front-court, and this promotion allows him to make an even bigger impact in the years ahead.”
Well, maybe not years.
Jefferson wore lots of hats but big-man-coach was most prominent. As far as I can determine the 6-9 Jefferson is the tallest basketball coach in Duke history; Jay Bilas is 6-8, Nate James 6-6, Chris Carrawell 6-6. Jefferson has a different knowledge base than most big-man coaches. And he’s still only 30 so hands-on could get pretty intense.
“Being able to know the details,” Dereck Lively said of Jefferson’s coaching abilities. “I didn’t realize how much the details really mattered in the game. When I got to Duke I realized that if you focus on the details, it’s going to pay off in games. Having someone as smart as him, as experienced as him, it’s just great to have him.”
One on one?
“We do that many times. I’ll just say I’m the one winning those battles.”
Jefferson told a slightly different tale.
“I’ve still got a little game left. It’s fun to get out there. Mostly I’m pushing them to get better, guarding them, making sure I can still play a little bit.”
Laughs ensued.
Kidding aside, Jefferson gave Duke something it had never had before, a legit big man young enough to actually demonstrate the nuances of low-post play. One of the narratives of last season is Amile Jefferson showing up early and working with Lively or Kyle Filiowski or Christian Reeves or Ryan Young.
Will Duke have that narrative this season? Remains to be seen. Will Avery didn’t actually fill Jefferson’s spot. He took one of the two new jobs allowed by the NCAA. Scheyer has indicated he’ll take his time and it amenable to going outside the program, as he did when he brought in Jai Lucas last season.
For now Jefferson is beginning an exciting adventure with one of pro sport’s iconic franchises.
“Duke has meant the world to me — this place is home," he said, in a farewell press release. "I'm so grateful to have earned my degree, played and began my coaching career here. I can't thank Coach K, Coach Scheyer, the players and our staff enough. Although I'm going to miss Durham and my Duke family tremendously, the Brotherhood is forever. This opportunity with the Boston Celtics was something that feels like the next step in my journey. The Celtics are one of the elite professional franchises in sports, and it's a special place for me. I'm honored to be able to learn from everyone in this organization. I wish our guys at Duke all the best, and I know great things are in store for Jon and the program.”
They’ll just have to achieve those great things without Amile Jefferson. He will be missed.
Thanks Jim. We will really miss Amile. We loved seeing him on the bench.
Amile Jefferson, definitely a "student athlete". Great article Jim.