After deciding which portal transfers they wanted to pursue this offseason, the Duke basketball coaching staff wasted little time getting to work. The story of Purdue’s Mason Gillis was somewhat humorous, and Jon Scheyer explained it to former Blue Devil Jay Bilas on The Brotherhood Podcast. Scheyer and his assistants were trying to recruit players to Durham this season, and they laid out their criteria in detail. “You watch what Purdue has done and he’s been a key guy for them for years,” said Scheyer.
“He’s the ultimate connector, winner.” Gillis shot 46.8 percent from beyond the arc and averaged 6.5 points per game for the Boilermakers this season; unfortunately, they could not make it past the national championship game. When his school and Duke played a year ago, he scored eight points.
“We were talking as a [coaching] staff one day, true story, and we were just talking about the type of player we’d be looking for and [associate head coach] Chris Carrawell said, ‘Look, those guys are good that’s being mentioned, but the guy that we need is Mason Gillis.'”
According to Scheyer, this happened before Gillis used the transfer portal, and all of Duke’s coaches thought the 6-foot-6 forward would be a great fit for the school. After waiting a week, Mason Gillis finally commits to the Blue Devils by using the transfer site. Quickly after Gillis entered the portal, Purdue head coach Matt Painter was contacted by Jon Scheyer, who wanted to know more about the personality of the Big Ten’s Sixth Man of the Year. Coincidentally, Painter was also speaking with Gillis on the phone at the same moment.
Mason Gillis appears to be the ideal fit for Duke because of the seasoned leadership, excellent defense, and top shooting skills he is projected to bring to the youthful squad. In the transfer portal, the Blue Devils also added Maliq Brown of Syracuse, Sion James of Tulane, and Cameron Sheffield of Rice.