Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski hinted that further action could be taken against Grayson Allen following Wednesday's trip against Elon, and he wasted no time punishing his All-American further after benching him to start the second half.
Krzyzewski announced that Allen is suspended indefinitely in a statement Thursday morning—his postgame reaction to the trip and Allen's reaction Wednesday can be viewed here.
"We have had the opportunity to thoroughly review the incident involving Grayson Allen from last night’s game against Elon. As I stated last night, the incident was unacceptable and inexcusable. He took an important step last night by apologizing in person to Steven Santa Ana and Coach Matt Matheny. As a program, we needed to take further steps regarding his actions that do not meet the standards of Duke Basketball. To that end, we have determined that Grayson will be suspended from competition for an indefinite amount of time.”
As a result of the suspension, Allen will miss the start of ACC play, beginning with a road tilt at 10-1 Virginia Tech Dec. 31.
The suspension is the latest in what has been a rocky campaign for the preseason first-team All-American. Allen has battled turf toe so far this season and is shooting just 38.4 percent from the field to get his 16.0 points per game.
After erupting for a career-high 34 points on 12-of-16 shooting against UNLV, the Jacksonville, Fla., native went 3-of-15 combined against Tennessee State and Elon for 15 total points in the two games.
With Allen out, sophomore Luke Kennard will likely take on an even larger role in the offense as the team's leading scorer and Krzyzewski will have to decide whether to start a bigger lineup with Chase Jeter, Marques Bolden or Harry Giles alongside Amile Jefferson and Jayson Tatum or guard Frank Jackson taking Allen's spot.
Duke just began a nine-day holiday break and will begin preparing for the Hokies after the Christmas holiday.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.