NEWS: Jaemyn Brakefield to enter transfer portal. pic.twitter.com/Go2ae1R5kY
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) March 24, 2021
The Duke Basketball off-season doesn’t officially begin until the first news of player departure hits, and we got that last night with Jaemyn Brakefield announcing he’d be leaving the program after just one season in Durham. It seems inevitable that all college sports are heading the way of allowing athletes to transfer once and compete immediately the next season, which means it may not be long until Brakefield is able to take the court for a new team. Even if the rule isn’t passed before the upcoming season, another waiver similar to the one granted during the 2020-21 season is certainly possible. While the pros and cons of the one-time transfer rule are up for debate, the current landscape gives players facing a potential minutes crunch zero incentive to stick around and waste another year of eligibility if they feel they should be playing more. Without knowing what other dominos will fall this off-season, the 2021-22 frontcourt could be very crowded, giving the former #31 overall recruit every reason to try and find an opportunity to find more time on the court somewhere else.
While there are some obvious exceptions, a lack of playing time is a common theme across many of Duke’s transfer over the past decade. From Alex Murphy to Olek Czyz, players who have found themselves outside of Coach K’s usually tight rotations have often opted for greener pastures after reading the writing on the wall. The argument is always made that the coaching staff should do more to get these players more minutes to keep them in the program, and many will say this about Jaemyn as well. While Brakefield did go through stretches this season on the outside looking in like those who’ve transferred before him, there was not a lack of opportunity in this case. When Jalen Johnson decided to end his career at Duke prematurely, there were plenty of minutes on the table in the frontcourt. For Jaemyn, it was what he didn’t do in the playing time he was given combined with the emergence of Mark Williams that ultimately sealed his fate.
Despite starting the season red hot from three, Brakefield made just 3/22 (13.6%) from long distance in the calendar year. His most consistent run of playing time came at the start of ACC play when Jalen Johnson was nursing his foot injury, but he couldn’t take advantage. In these four games against Notre Dame, Boston College, Wake Forest, and Virginia Tech, Brakefield averaged just 3.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per game, shooting 37.5% from the field and 28.6% from three. His most significant contribution in a Duke uniform came on February 20th, when his block on Kihei Clark and driving reverse layup over Jay Huff propelled Duke to an upset win over #7 Virginia in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Jaemyn had 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 blocks in the win, as well as an all-time reaction photo (see below). Brakefield’s success would unfortunately not continue, as he made just four of his last seventeen shot attempts (23.5%) to end the season, including a 1/8 clunker at Georgia Tech in a loss that arguably ended Duke’s NCAA Tournament hopes.
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| Jaemyn Brakefield strikes a pose after his go-ahead reverse layup against UVA. Source: @DukeMBB |
The good news from the Blue Devils’ perspective is that they were a much better team this season when Brakefield wasn’t in the game. With Brakefield on the court, Duke’s offense was almost six points per 100 possessions worse than it was when he wasn’t in the game, and the defense allowed over two points per 100 possessions more with him on the court as well. This on/off split of approximately -8 points per 100 possessions was the worst among all of Duke’s rotation players this season and ballooned all the way below -10 points per 100 possessions when only looking at games against conference opponents. Every player on the roster that played at least 20 minutes paired with Brakefield was a negative on/off combination as well, with the exception of, ironically enough, Jalen Johnson, who was approximately +14 points per 100 possessions on the court with Brakefield in a limited sample size.
On the other side of things, losing a player with talent is never good news. Although these transfer decisions have tended to prove a lack of minutes correct on several occasions, there’s a Semi Ojeleye who stars in his new home for every Derryck Thornton who doesn’t. Where Jaemyn falls on that scale will play out over time, but while his freshman year statistical profile was certainly rough, there is talent there for sure. It’d be foolish to assume he wouldn’t improve over the course of his collegiate career, and hopefully he can find the right program best suited for his skills in the future. Duke fans should have no hard feelings towards the kid; he gave his all for the entirety of a season unlike any we’ve ever seen before. I'll certainly miss his post footwork. Best of luck, Jaemyn!
Projecting ahead for Duke, as mentioned before, the frontcourt depth should not be any worse for wear without Brakefield. While Matthew Hurt will likely leave Durham for the NBA after his prodigious sophomore season, Duke is bringing in two forwards who should eat up plenty of minutes in A.J. Griffin and Paolo Banchero. Assuming Mark Williams and Henry Coleman III are both returning to Durham (which is probably a foolish thing to assume in modern college basketball), the roles in Duke’s frontcourt should be pretty well defined for a change. Let’s just hold our breath and hope that nothing happens in the next few months to throw a wrench into this plan. As always, no news is good news this time of year.
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