At pretty much any other school in the country, former five-star preps Cameron Williams and Bryson Howard would be starters and team centerpieces right away as freshmen. After all, they ranked No. 4 and No. 23 overall, respectively, on the 247Sports 2026 Composite out of high school. And it's worth noting that Williams was the highest-ranked piece to the Blue Devils' five-deep scholarship recruiting haul, which ended up as the No. 2-ranked class in the country.
However, on a loaded 2026-27 roster under fifth-year head coach Jon Scheyer, neither Williams nor Howard was even among the first few guys off the bench for the No. 2-ranked Blue Devils during Monday night's eventual 84-50 season opener win over the Army Black Knights in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"I've told our team, 'Look, you can't play everybody,'" Scheyer explained in his presser when asked by Duke Blue Devils On SI to comment on the proper amount of patience that Williams and Howard should be exhibiting right now and in what areas they need to improve before receiving 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, who arrived in Durham over the summer as a 7-foot, 215-pound McDonald's All-American and projected one-and-done, didn't see his first action against Army until the second half. But he enjoyed a couple of memorable moments, finishing the contest with four points, three rebounds, and two steals across his 11 minutes on the court.
He logged only the ninth-most minutes on the team. And one must wonder if his playing time would have been even less in the blowout victory had Duke basketball veteran transfer forward Drew Scharnowski, who drew eight minutes of action, been active throughout the preseason instead of working his way back from a knee injury .
Meanwhile, although Howard did play in both halves on Monday night, he received only the 10th-most playing time on the squad with his total of 10 minutes off the bench. He tallied four points, one board, and two steals.
It was encouraging to see both Howard and Williams play well defensively, again with each collecting a couple of takeaways. Plus, each seized the opportunity to delight the famed Cameron Crazies with at least one highlight dunk apiece.
And despite the limited playing time, Williams displayed positive vibes when speaking to Duke Blue Devils On SI in the locker room afterward.
"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."
As Scheyer added in his response to Duke Blue Devils On SI, there's no doubt Williams and Howard have the potential to be significantly more impactful in any given game this season.
"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."
The Blue Devils are now gearing up to host the unranked Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at 8 p.m. ET Thursday (ACC Network).
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/duke as Pair of Heralded Duke Basketball Freshmen Must Earn More Minutes .
