How Duke basketball’s Sean Stewart was ‘brainwashed’ to be a Blue Devil

DURHAM – Duke basketball’s Sean Stewart was a Blue Devil long before he officially became a Blue Devil.

A five-star recruit in coach Jon Scheyer’s latest group of talented freshmen, Stewart grew up with Grant Hill as a neighbor and broke a Zion Williamson record before ever playing a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“We talk a lot since he’s a legend here. He’s just really excited for me. For me being here and knowing him from a young age, he’s ecstatic for me,” Stewart said of Hill, whose No. 33 jersey hangs from the rafters at Cameron.

“He lived in my neighborhood, so we were always at their house and stuff like that. I’d say the main (memory) is when he took me to my first Duke game, which is when I fell in love with Duke and it became my dream school. It kind of brainwashed me from there.”

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Hill, an all-around terror for Duke opponents as a scorer, defender and facilitator in the 1990s, helped the Blue Devils win back-to-back national championships in 1991-92.

In the 2014-15 season – one that ended with Duke winning its fifth national title under former coach Mike Krzyzewski – Stewart tagged along with Hill to watch the Blue Devils’ 105-59 win against Fairfield.

“There were some people here on official visits. I think Brandon Ingram was here, so I got to see him go into the stands with the (Cameron) Crazies,” Stewart said.

“I was like, when I’m in high school, I wanna be that."

After breaking Zion Williamson’s record, Sean Stewart can help fill void left by Dereck Lively

Once Duke’s 2023 signing class was announced in November 2022, second-year coach Jon Scheyer broke down what Stewart can bring to the Blue Devils.

"Watching Sean play, he's as good of an athlete as there is in the country. He plays hard, can protect the rim, and plays above the basket on offense,” Scheyer said.

“The thing we love is that he keeps getting better and better. He's made an incredible progression since the first time we saw him, and we know that will continue. He can play multiple positions, defend anybody on the court and has great bloodlines with his dad, Mike, who played in the NBA.”

The 6-foot-8, 227-pound forward arrived in Durham as the 17th-ranked recruit in the 2023 class, according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s the latest star from Montverde Academy to join the Blue Devils, following in the footsteps of RJ Barrett and Dariq Whitehead.

Known as a rebounder, high-flying finisher and shot blocker, Sean’s strengths can help ease the pain of Dereck Lively II’s absence. Now a member of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, Lively ended his one season at Duke as one of the premier defenders in the country.

Michael “Yogi” Stewart, Sean’s father, set a single-season program record at Cal with 59 blocks as a freshman and ended his career as the Bear’s all-time leader in blocks (207). He went undrafted, but spent nine seasons in the NBA.

“He helps me a lot every day. We’re talking after practice about what I need to do to get playing time, what I need to do to stay on the floor,” Sean said of his father. “ … He tells me to always play as hard as I can and everything else will fall in from there.”

Because of his father’s NBA ties and the family’s relationship with Hill, Sean has been on the radar for quite some time. But he made waves in late September when Duke basketball’s official X account – formerly Twitter – posted a video of Sean breaking Zion Williamson’s standing vertical record of 35½ inches with a 36-inch jump.

“That kind of blew up. … I didn't really know if I got it when I first jumped,” Sean said. “But when they told me, I was like, OK. And then it blew up. Everybody's been texting me about it. It was crazy.”

The magnitude of the moment set in when Stewart saw Instagram posts from Bleacher Report and NCAA March Madness.

“I didn’t really expect it to be as big as it got,” Sean said with a smile.

What Sean did expect is to be in the situation he finds himself in currently. The lifelong Blue Devil is finally seeing his dream play out in front of him.

“It’s unreal. People say they don’t expect themselves to be here, but I worked so hard and played my butt off,” he said.

“It feels really good that the work has paid off and that I’m able to be here talking to you guys.”

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: What Duke basketball's Sean Stewart brings to the Blue Devils