Duke introduced Tuesday it has named Jayson Tatum as this system’s first chief basketball officer, making him faculty basketball’s first participant to carry such a place. Tatum will function a particular advisor to move coach Jon Scheyer on participant improvement and roster building.
Tatum will volunteer his time to satisfy with Duke gamers on profession recommendation and private branding. He may even conduct common digital classes with the teaching workers all through the season to supply suggestions from an NBA perspective.
Tatum’s obligations embody providing championship-level perception on participant improvement, management, and life as an elite athlete, in line with the varsity’s launch. The association formalizes a relationship that has existed informally since Scheyer turned head coach in 2022.
“Jayson is the final word skilled. His skill to encourage, inspire, and information our student-athletes is unmatched,” Scheyer mentioned in a press release.
The place represents an evolution in how faculty applications leverage high-profile alumni. Trae Younger and Steph Curry have taken comparable roles at Oklahoma and Davidson, respectively, although their positions focus extra closely on income era and roster building.
Tatum performed one season at Duke in 2016-17, averaging 16.8 factors and seven.3 rebounds per recreation earlier than changing into the third total choose within the 2017 NBA Draft. Scheyer served as an assistant coach underneath Mike Krzyzewski throughout Tatum’s lone collegiate season.
“This program means a lot to me, and I had an unbelievable time right here,” Tatum mentioned. “To have the prospect to formalize my relationship with this system and broaden my skill to influence the gamers and tradition means the world to me.”
Tatum is recovering from a torn Achilles suffered in Might in the course of the NBA playoffs. He’s anticipated to overlook most or the entire 2025-26 NBA season whereas rehabilitating.