Cameron Williams and Bryson Howard arrived at Duke with plenty of shine, but Monday night showed that freshman pedigree doesn’t automatically buy you a big role on a veteran-heavy roster.
In Duke’s 84-50 win over Army at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the two heralded newcomers were useful but not central pieces. Williams, the 7-foot, 215-pound McDonald’s All-American who came to Durham over the summer, didn’t check in until the second half. Howard was involved in both halves, but neither cracked the early rotation in any meaningful way for the No. 2-ranked Blue Devils.
That’s the reality for a loaded team under fifth-year head coach Jon Scheyer, even when the freshmen in question were ranked No. 4 and No. 23 overall, respectively, on the 247Sports 2026 Composite. Williams was the highest-rated player in Duke’s five-man scholarship class, a group that finished as the No. 2 recruiting class in the country.
At a lot of programs, those two would already be front-and-center. At Duke, they’re still earning their way.
“I’ve told our team, ‘Look, you can’t play everybody,’” Scheyer said when asked by Duke Blue Devils On SI about how much patience Williams and Howard should show and what they need to improve before getting more minutes. “And [Williams and Howard] are fortunate to have, every day in practice, they get to continue to show, grow, and develop.
“I feel very confident with the program that we have in place, the care, the time, the energy that our coaches and myself, our staff, is pouring into every single one of these guys. I think the growth is going to be there in a big way.”
Williams made the most of his 11 minutes, finishing with four points, three rebounds and two steals. He logged the ninth-most minutes on the team, and his run might have been even shorter if Duke veteran transfer forward Drew Scharnowski had been fully available earlier in preseason rather than working back from a knee injury. Scharnowski played eight minutes Monday night.
Howard finished with four points, one rebound and two steals in 10 minutes, which ranked 11th on the team. He and Williams both showed up on the defensive end, and each gave the Cameron crowd at least one dunk to remember.
Williams said afterward that he’s still working through the mental side of waiting for more opportunity.
“I’m still trying to figure it out,” Williams noted about the balance between staying patient for more minutes and being visibly hungry to see the court more often. “I’ve got to be more consistent with that.
But I feel like today I did a pretty good job. The thing that really helped me was breathing, just controlling my breath on the bench and staying positive on the bench.”
Scheyer, though, made it clear he sees a bigger role coming for both freshmen, even if it doesn’t arrive immediately.
“It may not be there with minutes immediately,” Scheyer said. “And that’s something that these guys, I know they’re wired in a tough way.
They have very supportive families. And they also can come in, and I want them thinking they can win us the next game too.
“I want these guys to make my job as hard as possible. That’s what I want.
I really believe in those two guys. And I was happy with some of the things they did tonight.”
Duke now turns to a home game against Coastal Carolina at 8 p.m. ET Thursday on ACC Network.
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