SAN ANTONIO — Kon Knueppel calls them “victory scars.”
The bumps, bruises, cuts and scrapes have accumulated since the start of preseason practice for Knueppel and Duke basketball. The Blue Devils (35-3) will likely add a few more of those against Houston (34-4) on Saturday (8:49 p.m., CBS) at the Final Four.
“I’ve got all these scars and everything on my arms,” Knueppel said Friday afternoon inside Duke’s locker room at the Alamodome.
“Those are just victory scars of working hard in a college basketball season.”
Going back to the first practices for Duke, Knueppel said the Blue Devils would go through three “grueling” hours for some sessions, which he said “were always fun.” That’s why, even as a freshman, Knueppel is ready for the challenge of competing against the Cougars, who are known for their culture of consistent physicality and toughness.
“I think it’ll be an absolute battle. I think it’ll be really fun,” Knueppel said. “I like the games that get physical, where you have to muck it up. I think it’s gonna be a really fun game.”
Junior guard Tyrese Proctor is the only returner for Duke who played in the Blue Devils’ 54-51 win against Houston in the Sweet 16 of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. He had 9 points, 4 assists and a career-high 3 steals in 38 minutes in that matchup.
He’s also the only player on the team that scrimmaged Houston ahead of Jon Scheyer’s debut season as head coach.
“I think we got punched in the face many times that day,” Scheyer said of the closed scrimmage against the Cougars in 2022. “We punched back, though. I thought we had a great gauge for how our team was and how we could move forward.”
Fast-forwarding to the summer of 2024, Scheyer assembled a group that includes Cooper Flagg, the projected No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, as the headliner of another top-ranked recruiting class.
Scheyer surrounded that young talent, along with Proctor and returning guard Caleb Foster, with a trio of veterans — Sion James, Mason Gillis and Maliq Brown — via the transfer portal. Throughout the preseason, Proctor saw the latest group of Blue Devils produce the type of toughness and competitiveness required to compete for a sixth national championship.
“We’ve had some of the most physical practices I’ve been a part of since I’ve been here,” Proctor said.
“I feel like some of them have been harder than some of the games we’ve played. I feel like just setting the tone in practice is a big thing. … We ...
