The 1st Ever ‘GM’ of Duke Men’s Basketball

Just three months after Coach K’s retirement, Duke men’s basketball coach Jon Scheyer has landed a major recruit — off the court. 

Former Nike and NBA executive Rachel Baker was hired full-time as the men’s basketball “general manager” — a completely new position under the Blue Devils’ umbrella. Helping athletes with their name, image, and likeness endeavors will be at the top of her to-do list.

Baker is the latest in a robust arsenal of resources the Duke men’s team has built to help athletes with storytelling, social media, brand-building — and by proxy, NIL. The Blue Devils have an entire creative team dedicated to social content — that one of their partners previously described as a full-on “media company.” 

Creative director Dave Bradley previously told FOS that “positioning our athletes well, helping them tell their story… that’s always been important.” But the NIL era has made it even more vital.

The team has also worked with companies INFLCR and Altius Sports Partners to provide additional NIL-specific resources to athletes. 

Duke is one of several schools to invest in in-house NIL resources, in addition to consulting companies. The first school to do so was Duquesne University, which hired personal brand expert Jordon Rooney in the summer of 2021 to work with basketball players.

Now, schools nationwide like Ohio State are exploring how athletic department officials can help with NIL — whether that be brand-building education or arranging deals themselves.