The new era of Duke basketball continues with the formation of a new front office position to help players enhance their marketing skills in the new college sports world created by NIL (name, image and likeness).
First-year Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer announced on Tuesday that Rachel Baker is the program's first general manager – a position she will use to assist players in capitalising on strategic partnerships.
"The state of college basketball is growing and changing at an exponential rate," Scheyer said. "Rachel is a one-of-a-kind talent with unique experience that will provide our players and their families with an unparalleled resource and partner as we navigate new frontiers of college basketball together.
"Through her work in the NBA and at Nike, she brings nearly a decade of expertise in the business of basketball to our staff, as well as her gifts in relationship and community building, leadership development, and experiential marketing. We can't wait to see all she brings to our program in this newly created position."
A former lacrosse player at La Salle and the daughter of a collegiate basketball coach, Baker spent eight years at Nike and one year in the NBA league office before joining Duke. At Nike, she led their Elite Youth Basketball League, developing partnerships and managing strategic initiatives. During her year with the NBA, Baker directed the marketing and rebranding of the WNBA.
"I could not be more excited to join Jon Scheyer and the entire Duke Basketball family," said Baker. "We're in the middle of such a transformative moment – not only for Duke, but for the college basketball landscape – and the chance to be part of it is the opportunity of a lifetime.
"Duke Basketball has remained rooted in honoring our storied history while writing the future of the game. I am humbled and honored to join this tradition and can't wait to get started."
Baker is the latest major change for the Drake program following the retirement of coach Mike Krzyzewski after he had led the team to five NCAA Tournament championships since his hiring in 1980.
Scheyer, the 34-year-old former Blue Devils star, had been on Coach K’s staff since 2014 and took over for the Hall of Fame coach following his planned retirement in April.
Baker, who graduated from La Salle in 2012 and holds an executive education certificate in business of entertainment, media and sport from Harvard University, is the daughter of Rod Baker, who coached Tufts from 1983-88 and Cal-Irvine from 1991-97.
Randle happy to 'feel wanted' despite 'shock' trade to Timberwolves
Julius Randle says he is happy to be at the Minnesota Timberwolves where he "feels wanted" but admitted feeling shocked by the New York Knicks trade.
He was part of a blockbuster trade, joining the Timberwolves with Donte DiVincenzo, as Karl-Anthony Towns headed the other way in a deal that was completed earlier this week.
Randle was a three-time All-Star with the Knicks as their starting power forward, a Most Improved Player winner and a two-time All-NBA selection.
Last season, he averaged 24.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, though he did not play in the playoffs after dislocating his shoulder on January 27 and opted to undergo surgery in April after two months of rehab.
Although he had initially been looking forward to another shot at the playoffs with the Knicks, he is now invigorated about joining another championship contender.
"It was a lot of emotion," Randle said. "You spend a lot of time living in one place, you know, New York, going there five years ago... A lot of blood, sweat, and tears put into that organization and uniform. Initially, it's always going to be a shock.
"You want to be somewhere where you feel wanted. I feel wanted here. At this point in my career, I've accomplished a lot of great things on an individual level, but I want to win a championship. This is a perfect opportunity to do that.
"[The trade] was a breath of fresh air. I'm excited to bring everything I've learned here over the past five years and help these guys out. My only thing here is I just want to help.
"I want to help [Anthony Edwards]. I want to help Rudy [Gobert], Naz [Reid] - all those guys. I want to help win a championship, and that's the only thing that matters."
The Timberwolves start their season against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 22, with their preseason beginning against the same opponent on Friday.
Fever's Clark near-unanimous pick for WNBA Rookie of Year
Caitlin Clark lived up to the lofty expectations as one of the most highly touted rookies in WNBA history, and has been rewarded.
The WNBA announced Thursday that the Indiana Fever star was chosen as the league's Rookie of the Year.
Clark received 66 of 67 votes, with the other vote going to Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky.
After a phenomenal collegiate career, Clark was the first pick of this year's draft and made an immediate impact on the court and also by helping the WNBA gain popularity worldwide.
She broke the league's single-season assist mark with 337 - including a WNBA-record 19 in one game - and averaged 8.4 per game to become the first rookie to lead the league in that stat.
Her 122 3-pointers also led all players and she scored the most points ever by a rookie with an average of 19.2 per game to rank seventh in the WNBA.
With averages of 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals, she started all 40 games for the Fever to help the franchise reach the play-offs for the first time since 2016.
Joining Clark on the 2024 WNBA All-Rookie Team is Reese and Kamilla Cardoso of the Sky, New York Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich and Los Angeles Sparks forward Rickea Jackson.
Fever's Clark chosen as WNBA Rookie of Year
Caitlin Clark lived up to the lofty expectations as one of the most highly touted rookies in WNBA history, and has been rewarded.
The WNBA announced Thursday that the Indiana Fever star was chosen as the league's Rookie of the Year.
Clark received 66 of 67 votes, with the other vote going to Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky.
After a phenomenal collegiate career, Clark was the first pick of this year's draft and made an immediate impact on the court and also by helping the WNBA gain popularity worldwide.
She broke the league's single-season assist mark with 337 - including a WNBA-record 19 in one game - and averaged 8.4 per game to become the first rookie to lead the league in that stat.
Her 122 3-pointers also led all players and she scored the most points ever by a rookie with an average of 19.2 per game to rank seventh in the WNBA.
With averages of 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals, she started all 40 games for the Fever to help the franchise reach the play-offs for the first time since 2016.
Joining Clark on the 2024 WNBA All-Rookie Team is Reese and Kamilla Cardoso of the Sky, New York Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich and Los Angeles Sparks forward Rickea Jackson.
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