I’m going to take a brief break from football previews to introduce you to the newest member of the Duke men’s basketball coaching staff, one Emanuel Dildy. But he goes by E.
Dildy came on board earlier this month, filling the vacancy created when Amile Jefferson took a position with the Boston Celtics.
Now Jefferson was darn near unique in the college ranks, a big-man coach who’s actually a big man. And at 30 years old Jefferson is young enough to get on the court and go one-on-one with his big men without losing his dignity.
But Dildy is a more than adequate replacement. He’s an experienced coach, with a reputation as a prodigious recruiter and solid player-development asset.
You may have read that Dildy came to Duke from Oklahoma. True but a bit misleading. He’s a Chicago guy through and through. And not the leafy suburbs.
“Being from there and growing up on the south side of Chicago, it was pretty tough to kind of beat a lot of statistics. But just just developing a level of discipline and mental toughness, to be able to make it out some of those environments that a lot of us come from, starting all the way at the bottom.”
Dildy went to New Mexico State to play but transferred back to Eastern Illinois after two years. He played in Germany for a couple of seasons before starting his coaching career at Kennedy-King College. That’s a juco in Chicago. From that every modest beginning he’s worked his way up the food chain with stops at Eastern Illinois, Loyola of Chicago, Missouri, Valparaiso, Northwestern and Oklahoma.
If Oklahoma seems like a bit of an outlier, well their head coach Porter Moser was born in Naperville and coached 10 years at Loyola. That’s pretty Chicago.
“Just fighting through a lot of those hurdles and doing a good enough job and developing a good reputation in the business allowed me to put myself in some rooms that a lot of guys that come from where I come from don’t get those opportunities,” Dildy summed up.
While at Northwestern he helped Chris Collins put together the best team in that school’s history.
He also learned about Duke. “Obviously, the program, the tradition, the university, they speak for themselves. Working at Northwestern, being with Chris Collins for three years and being the guy who asks all the questions, I got so much of a Duke dose in those three years and it made me love it even more, appreciate it even more.”
So, what does he bring to the Duke table?
Jon Scheyer cited Dildy’s work ethic.
“Just to see how he's grinded, every step of the way. Started off at Kennedy-King College -- a junior college, and you ask any of the coaches he's come across . . . they rave about him. Great with relationships. Is a big-time worker. You talk about a guy who's really excited to be at Duke, he's really excited and he's brought a great energy to our staff.”
And yes, Scheyer communicated with Collins about Dildy. Collins confirmed what Scheyer already knew.
Duke assistant Jai Lucas echoed Scheyer’s comments about Dildy’s personality.
“He’s one of those people who draws people to him because of how positive he is, the energy he brings. He’s the same way every day. He’s been coaching for a long time, so he’s got a lot of knowledge. He’s a great resource and he’s been amazing so far.”
Chris Carrawell calls Dildy a “basketball junkie,” always wanting to learn new things and try them out.
Scheyer says that Carrawell will take over coaching the bigs, with Dildy handling the wings. Dildy says he will prioritize “being able to take the ball and get into the paint, drive and close-outs, playing out of close-outs. Being able to make shots. That's gonna be very important to with Tyrese’s ability to pass, Jared’s ability to pass, Caleb's ability to pass, you know those wings have to really be able to step in and make make some open shots. Shooting ball handling, passing, those things. You know, it's it's funny, I think those things get overlooked at times because they seem so basic.”
Dildy says mastering the basics also applies to recruiting.
“I’ve hit the ground recruiting. Not easy. It’s not easy recruiting at this level. At this level it’s the best of the best. You’re recruiting against guys that have deep relationships as well. Of course, there’s some things about Duke that makes it a little easier to sell than the other places I’ve been. As far as recruiting top-15, top-10 kids, it’s not the level of player you have , it’s the relationships you have with that inner circle that that player has. That’s something I’ve developed over the years. I’m very confident in my ability to be able to identify high-level talent.”
NIL? “That’s a piece I’m still getting my hands wrapped around. But that’s definitely changed the way everybody recruits.”
So, welcome to Duke, E. Here’s to many successes.
Glad to see the continued movement away from an all-Duke coaching staff DNA!
Thanks for the intro to Coach E, Jim. Scheyer continues to expand the scope of experience in his staff. Sound like a great addition. Looking forward to seeing more of how this staff develops our high-potential 2023 team!