Not only was Grayson Allen relegated to a permanent bench role on Saturday at Virginia Tech, but his status with Duke off the court is now limited as well.
A preseason All-American, the Blue Devils junior guard is serving what Mike Krzyzewski is calling an indefinite suspension because Allen intentionally tripped Elon’s Steven Santa Ana during their game on Dec. 21.
In addition to Allen not playing in Duke’s stunning 89-75 loss to the Hokies at Cassell Coliseum, Allen is no longer a team captain for the Blue Devils.
Last spring, even after Allen had been publicly reprimanded by the ACC for tripping Louisville and Florida State players in February games, Krzyzewski announced that Allen would be a captain for this season’s Blue Devils along with seniors Matt Jones and Amile Jefferson.
His third incident of letting his frustrations get the better of his judgment, though, cost him those important duties.
“Only Amile and Matt are doing that,” Krzyzewski said Saturday following the Virginia Tech game.
Allen averaged 16 points per game before his incident with Santa Ana late in the first half of a game Duke would win 72-61 at Greensboro Coliseum.
Allen was benched to start the second half of that game, although he did play. He apologized to Santa Ana and Elon coach Matt Matheny during a postgame meeting.
The next morning, having reviewed the film of the incident and discussed the situation with Duke athletics director Kevin White and the ACC office, Krzyzewski announced Allen’s indefinite suspension from competition.
The terms of discipline still allowed for Allen to practice and to travel when Duke played its next game, which was Saturday at Virginia Tech.
But the Blue Devils played one of their poorest games of the season. They never led and trailed by as many as 20 points in the second half.
Having lost only once previously this season and never allowing more than 77 points in game, Duke never challenged the Hokies with Allen on the bench in street clothes.
“He was part of the loss today by not being there,” Krzyzewski said.
Asked if the Blue Devils missed Allen, Jefferson said, “We missed our heart. We missed a lot of things tonight. We missed Duke.”
Krzyzewski remains mum on how long Allen will be unavailable to the Blue Devils. He hasn’t revealed the details of what it will take for Allen to be reinstated.
Duke has home games this week with Georgia Tech on Wednesday and Boston College on Saturday. The following week, Duke plays at Florida State on Jan. 10 and at Louisville on Jan. 14.