KU hoops veterans are ‘focused’ entering Champions Classic. Here’s what awaits them

Duke legend Mike Krzyzewski, the winningest college basketball coach of all-time, elected to retire after the 2021-22 season at the age of 75.

Coach K’s departure from the bench means former Blue Devil guard Jon Scheyer will be leading the blue-blood program against Kansas on Tuesday at the Champions Classic in Indianapolis.

One person who isn’t interested in that storyline? KU’s point guard.

“I don’t care about all that. I don’t lie. Whatever coach they’ve got out there, whatever players they’ve got out there to play, that’s who I’m going to be focused on,” Dajuan Harris said of the upcoming matchup between a pair of 2-0 teams.

KU is ranked No. 6 in this week’s AP poll while Duke is No. 7. Tip is set for approximately 8:30 p.m. Central, with a live broadcast on ESPN.

This is a KU team that goes by the yearly motto, “Faces change; expectations don’t,” which could be applied for both squads at this year’s event.

Scheyer’s coaching counterpart in game three of the season for both teams will be Norm Roberts, not Hall of Famer Bill Self.

Roberts is coaching KU the first four games of the regular season as Self serves a four-game program-imposed suspension. The Duke game represents the largest test of the Self-less slate.

“It’s going to be great,” said junior forward Jalen Wilson, KU’s leading scorer after two games (20.0 PPG). “We played them my freshman year. It was a great atmosphere.

“I’m looking forward to playing that game. A lot of eyes are going to be on them. A lot of eyes are going to be on us. To have the opportunity to compete against them and do battle is going to be great.”.

The Jayhawks will be facing a Duke team with the No. 1-ranked incoming recruiting class from this last offseason.

Dariq Whitehead, a 6-7, 220-pound freshman out of Montverde Academy and the No. 1-rated player in the class by Rivals.com, has yet to play because of a foot injury that required surgery in late August. He’s expected to make his debut sometime later in November.

Dereck Lively, a 7-1, 230-pound freshman from Westtown (Pennsylvania) School and the No. 3-rated player in the class according to Rivals.com, missed Duke’s 71-44 season-opening win over Jacksonville but returned from a calf injury to score four points in 14 minutes in Friday’s 84-38 win over USC Upstate.

Kyle Filipowski, a 7-0, 230-pound freshman ranked No. 5 in the class of 2022, scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 21 minutes in the rout of USC Upstate. He also had a double double (10 points, 12 rebounds) against Jacksonville. No Duke player has ever had three straight double-doubles to begin a college career. Marvin Bagley also had two to open his freshman season in 2017-18.

Then there’s No. 21-ranked Mark Mitchell, a 6-8, 220-pound freshman out of Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas, who scored 18 points vs. Jacksonville and 13 vs. USC Upstate.

“They’ve got a lot of guys, three or four projected to be first-round guys,” Wilson said. “New coach, new guys but it’s still going to be Duke basketball.”

Duke also has Jeremy Roach, a 6-2 junior from Leesburg, Virginia; Ryan Young, a 6-10 senior from Stewartsville, New Jersey; Tyrese Proctor, a 6-5 freshman from Sydney, Australia, who reclassified from the Class of 2023 to ‘22 in June; and Jacob Grandison, a 6-6 senior from Oakland, California.

KU counters with a highly regarded freshman class of its own. Gradey Dick entered KU ranked No. 28 nationally by Rivals.com, followed by MJ Rice (29), Ernest Udeh (33) and Zuby Ejiofor (46).

“I think they are a good team. We are a good team,” said Rice, a 6-5 guard whose hometown is Durham, North Carolina, home of the Blue Devils. “They are going to play their game. We’re going to play our game. All we’ve got to worry about is coming in and doing our part.”

Udeh, a 6-11 center out of Orlando, Florida, added: “Great ball is going to be played that day.”

KU’s Wilson said the Jayhawks realize teams will want to knock off the defending national champs this season.

“I think you have a feeling coming in you always will get everybody’s best shot,” Wilson said. “I learned quick last year. Kentucky came in and beat us by 30 (80-62 in Allen). Games like that, … those teams are going to come prepared.

“Duke is going to come prepared to beat us by 30. We’ve got to have preparation and take all these practices seriously.”

Roberts is hoping the rest of the team understands that. The acting KU coach called Tuesday’s clash “big-boy ball,” adding the younger players have to realize the magnitude of the game.

“The stakes are a little bit more magnified,” Roberts said. “In these first two games (wins over Omaha and North Dakota State) you can maybe get away with some stuff from an athletic standpoint. We were bigger, stronger, faster, having a lead. Make a mistake in this game they’ll take advantage of it.

“We have to be fundamentally sound, play the way we need to play, do-your-job type situation.”

As far as learning the tendencies of a new coach in Scheyer, Roberts said: “I’m sure when you are following a Hall of Fame coach, someone who has done so well for so long, you are going to take a lot of things from that person.

“They are pressuring defensively like they normally do. They are moving the ball and playing unselfishly like they always do.”