The 2024-25 Duke basketball team will host Division II Lincoln (Pa.) for an exhibition game at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday. This matchup marks the first meeting between the Blue Devils and the Lions.
However, it is not the first time that Lincoln’s first-year head coach, Julius Hodge, has been to Cameron Indoor Stadium. Hodge, a former NC State basketball guard from 2001 to 2005 and the 2003-04 ACC Player of the Year, will be making his head coaching debut. He will lead his team against Jon Scheyer’s third Duke squad, which holds a preseason No. 7 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll released on Monday.
As a player, Hodge is the third-leading scorer in NC State history. He finished his college career with a 2-8 record against Duke, winning both games in Raleigh but going 0-3 at Cameron.
“I’ve learned a lot about Lincoln since we scheduled to play them,” Scheyer said during the ACC Tipoff media days. Scheyer, who started at Duke two seasons after Hodge finished at NC State, expressed his excitement about the matchup. “They have a new coach, a coach that Duke fans know well in Julius. It’s been a great honor for me since I was a player to compete in games against HBCU opponents. I hope we can continue that tradition.”
Hodge was selected No. 20 overall in the 2005 NBA Draft but played only two years in the league before moving overseas. He has since worked as an assistant coach at four different programs before taking the head coaching position at Lincoln.
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