All elite high school basketball players reach a point when they must start thinking of themselves not only as prep stars but also as college recruits. Each season becomes about more than just carving out minutes and winning championships. There is the future to consider.
For Paul VI guard Jeremy Roach, that mind-set adjustment came with his first scholarship offer. It arrived in October of his freshman year, before he had played a varsity game for the Panthers, and it was from the University of Virginia.
“Just to know that a school and coach like that has confidence in you at a young age gives you a boost,” Roach said. “But with that first offer, I tried to keep it low-key.”
From that moment on, Roach, a five-star talent who would eventually sign with Duke, was more than just a high school hooper. He was the 14-year-old with a Virginia offer, a reputation that grew as more elite programs followed suit. By the time Roach finished his sophomore season, he could turn on any college basketball game and think about whether he wanted to attend either of the schools competing. Just about every option was open.
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His high-profile recruitment followed him on and off the court. Friends, teammates and even strangers had no problem telling him what they thought he should do with his life.
“Everyone is a college fan,” Roach said with a laugh. “I would just want to do regular stuff, and people would yell at me, ‘Go here, go there!’ They’re in the Twitter [direct messages], Instagram DMs, too.”
Basketball provided an escape, but every time he was on the court he had to play like the kid with a boatload of Division I offers. More often than not, he delivered. In the summer after his sophomore season, he had a strong showing at Peach Jam, arguably the biggest AAU event of the year. In the stands, looking on with a few assistants, was Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“He didn’t even have a big scoring game,” remembered Duke associate head coach Jon Scheyer, who led Roach’s recruitment. “But he affected the game in so many different areas — his on-the-ball defense, his leading, his passing, his playmaking. And then he also hit some timely shots. Coach loved him. Right away, Jeremy stuck out to him.”
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The Blue Devils already had Roach on their radar, but they offered a scholarship that summer and quickly made him a priority. On the local level, the hype reached new heights heading into Roach’s junior season. Just before it started, he cut his sizable list to four schools, each of which has won at least one national championship in the past 10 years: Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina and Villanova.
Two weeks later, Roach tore his ACL and missed the entire season. But as he sat on the sideline or rehabbed at home, he continued to hear from Duke.
“We didn’t skip a beat,” Scheyer said. “No discussion on our end. We wanted to be there for him and help him and let him know we wanted him just as badly. We knew how he would attack the rehab.”
Roach committed to Duke on May 8, 2019.
“Man, that was a big day,” he said. “It was honestly a big sigh of relief. To have that weight off my shoulders, I could just focus on my rehab again and then my senior season.”
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Roach, who signed in November, is part of a six-man recruiting class for the Blue Devils, who finished 25-6 overall and 15-5 in the ACC this past season. With sophomore point guard Tre Jones probably headed to the NBA, Roach is in line to take up some ballhandling duties when he arrives in Durham, N.C.
The 6-foot-2 Roach knows point guard at Duke is one of the most scrutinized positions in college basketball. But after four years as a local attraction and a constant source of praise and criticism, he believes he is ready for the challenge. His Duke coaches believe the same.
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“It takes a very unique player that has that point guard mind-set and also the talent,” Scheyer said. “We feel like Jeremy has that. It takes some time, and you learn. But we feel he can do that.”
With the high school and college basketball seasons finished, The Washington Post will use the coming weeks to look ahead to next season, when some of the area’s prep stars will take their skills to campuses across the nation. So far we have featured Oxon Hill’s Ronald Polite, Gonzaga’s Chuck Harris and Pallotti’s Eniya Russell.
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