Kahlil Dukes didn't have to worry about plays in high school. Opposing teams could rarely stop the 5-foot-11 sharpshooter from running up and down the court and making them pay from different spots on the floor. He's allowed to do the same thing in USC's system, but he's expected to make better decisions.

"When I played in high school, we ran up and down," Dukes said. "We only ran a play when we needed one. It was pretty much the same thing, it's just more disciplined."

USC's style has allowed him to jump right into colleges practices and contribute, but the college playbook makes everything a bit more difficult.

"It's been an easier adjustment because the styles are similar but it's been tough learning so many plays," Dukes said. "That's been the hardest thing so far. In high school we only had a couple plays. Here, it's a different level. You have to have a counter for everything teams throw at you so you need more plays."

Despite having to deal with all the plays, the freshman guard is excited about the progress he's made.

"I feel like I'm doing well everyday," Dukes said. "I'm just trying to learn my role, execute each play, work hard and do what I can to be a factor on the team. I just want to be the best I can be on the team and do the best I can to help us win basketball games. I just need to improve on knowing rotations on defense. I need to talk more and improve on taking good shots all the time."


Having a role on the team will be determined by making those improvements. If he does make it to the court, it seems like the coaches like him in a specific spot.

"It's not really discussed, it's put into action, I just follow through and make the adjustments," Dukes said. "Right now it looks like I'm on the wing a lot."

The role he'll play isn't a concern at this point in his career. He's just worried about improving and impressing his coaches with his talents.

"I'm not worried about it because I have bigger expectations for myself than they do," he said. "Even when they think I played well in practice, I feel like I played poorly and could've done much better. That's helped me so far. I'm trying to impress myself and them. I hope that my high expectations for myself are higher and it allows me to meet their expectations as well."

As for his team, the freshmen has big expectations.

"I think we're going to be a really good up tempo team," Dukes said. "All the guards can run around, shoot well and play defense well. Guys like J.T. (Terrell) are the leaders. Everyone has one or two qualities, we'll just put them all together."

With the new coaches, it seems like putting it together is much more of a possibility than it was last year.

"I think a lot of it has to do with the coaching staff," Dukes said. "Everyone has to come together as one. The coaches and the players. It can't just be the coaches or the players that make it happen. I think we'll be able to do that here."

He hopes that it'll allow them to compete for championships.

"It's about coming together as one," Dukes said. "In high school, I was the guy but I wasn't winning any championships. I never won a state championship. Coming here, everyone is chasing the same thing as one, the Pac-12 championship, the national championship. It's not really about individuals. It's about fitting in and adjusting, knowing your role, perfecting your role and knowing what everyone else can do."

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