As a young, budding basketball player growing up in Omaha, Nebraska — a city just 210 miles from Lawrence — Jayden Dawson followed the fortunes of the blue blood Kansas Jayhawks.
“Obviously I knew about Kansas. I’m pretty sure if I was in the farthest spot away from Kansas I would still know about Kansas, just the history behind this place,” Dawson, KU’s 6-foot-5 senior combo guard said on the Jayhawk Radio Network after scoring six points with three rebounds, two assists and two steals in the Jayhawks’ 76-57 victory over Princeton on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
“But, funny story, I actually grew up a Duke fan, so going out playing against Duke, it’s going to be a surreal moment for me, especially (the fact) it is a big game for us,” Dawson added.
Dawson, who played 24 minutes in the win over Princeton, figures to come off the bench for the fifth straight game when the Jayhawks (3-1) take on Duke (4-0) in a Champions Classic contest set for 8 p.m. Central on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
It’ll be the first time Dawson, who transferred to KU after spending three seasons at Loyola Chicago, has competed against Duke.
“It doesn’t hit the same now that Coach K isn’t there,” Dawson, who was a first-team all-state player at Omaha Central High School before heading to Loyola, said Saturday.
Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski, who retired after the 2021-22 season, compiled a 1,129-309 record with five NCAA titles (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015) in 42 seasons at Duke.
“That’s really when I was a fan, when Coach K was there,” Dawson said. “When coach (Jon) Scheyer got there I was a bit older so I wasn’t too much of a fan of Duke.”
Scheyer, whose Blue Devils are 4-0 this season with wins over Indiana State (100-62), Army (114-59), Western Carolina (99-54) and Texas (7560), is 93-22 in four seasons at Duke. The Blue Devils reached the Final Four last spring and the Elite Eight in 2023-24.
“It doesn’t get any bigger than this — two blue bloods going at it. We already played North Carolina this year. We took an ‘L’ there (87-74, Nov. 7), so we’ve got a little bit more of a chip on our shoulder this time,” Dawson said. “And I mean, it’s Duke. So if you are not ready to play against Duke, then something’s wrong with you.”
Dawson — he went 1-for-4 from 3 versus Princeton — hopes to improve on his 28.6% shooting from beyond the arc on Tuesday. He’s 4-of-14 on the year after hitting 36.3% of his 3s last year at Loyola.
Overall, he was 86-of-237 from 3 (36.3%) last season at the Chicago school. He was 45-of-122 from 3 for 36.9% his sophomore season and 9-of-22 for 40.9% his freshman season.
“I’m still trying to knock a couple now and really find my rhythm,” Dawson said. “I think I’ve made one here every game so far, but not the way I like to shoot the ball. And I know it’s coming.”
He was 1-for-5 from 3 in the opener against Green Bay, 1-of-2 at Carolina, 1-of-3 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to go with his 1-for-4 versus Princeton.
